Adjusting to Life
by jassycatx33
Summary: Katie-Marie and her sister Rachel have to live with their Grammie due to their parents death. What sort of people will they meet in this new town and how will they adjust?
1. Why They Had to Move

I do not in any way shape or form own Invader Zim or the characters. Alright? Okay. Please enjoy my story (:

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Katie-Marie McKleign is my name, I am 13 and I just moved to a new town.

I stared out the window of my Grammie's car. Snow was falling ever so slightly on the ground. I sighed and glanced at my sister Rachel. She's about my age, a few months younger I suppose. Besides that, we have to live with our Grammie now. Last weekend my parents were killed in a car accident. They both died while the drunk driver who crashed into them lived. The thought of it causes my eyes to water. Well wherever the town my Grammie lives in is, it's in the middle of nowhere. I'm not excited for this, not even a little. Rachel, on the other hand, is very excited. I, for one, did not want to leave my friends back home. Now I'm going to go to school and have no one to talk to, and when I trip in the hall no one to help me. I guess I have to though, there's no other choice.

When we arrived at Grammie's I dragged my bags inside. Grammie showed us each our own rooms. Well there's one good thing we didn't have at home, separate rooms. I unpacked slowly and sadly. And then I sat on the window sill, watching the snow fall. I focused on one piece of snow at a time, focusing on that one piece until it hit the ground.

"Katie. Katie? Katie!" I heard Rachel calling to me from the doorway. "It's time for dinner." she said. I looked at my sister and sighed. She turned and walked down the hall. I stood up and walked slowly out of the room, down the hall and down the stairs. Spaghetti for dinner. This was my favorite dinner, she probably made it to cheer me up. I sat quietly and ate my food. No one said a word the whole time. When everyone was finished Grammie told us to leave our dishes and she'd clean up. After thanking her, I walked upstairs. I grabbed some Pjs, a towel, and all my showering things and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. After a quick shower I bushed my long, dark brown hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. I brushed my teeth and left the bathroom, hoping that I could sleep in this new room. The bed was comfortable, but that didn't make things a whole lot easier. I sighed and turned to face the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 1:00 a.m. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping to fall asleep. I'm not sure how long it took but soon I was asleep and I was dreaming about how my new life would be.


	2. First day of Skool

I woke up to my alarm clock going off. I sighed and turned it off. I walked over to my dresser and picked out a pair of gray skinny jeans and some socks. Then I walked over to my closet and grabbed a random shirt, my black shirt with three ninjas in the middle of it. One wearing red, one wearing blue, the other wearing lime green. I walked slowly into the bathroom and closed the door. I got dressed, brushed, and straightened my hair. As soon as I was sure I liked my hair I threw my pjs in my room, grabbed my shoes, backpack and phone, and ran downstairs. "Morning Grammie." I said tiredly as I got out a bowl, spoon, a box of Frosted Flakes cereal and the milk. I ate breakfast quickly and washed my dishes. I hadn't noticed when Rachel came bouncing into the room wearing black leggings with a long white tee shirt that was almost like a dress. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a paper bag. I always packed lunch, even at my old school. Lunch was always terrible and I'm also a very, how would you say it, choosy eater. I packed a bagel quickly and shoved it in my backpack. I quickly put on my shoes as I heard the bus outside.

"Ray! Come on! We're going to miss the bus!" I yelled as I grabbed my favorite black and white striped hoodie. I pulled it on as I ran towards the bus. Rachel was close behind and we sat by each other in the middle of the bus. The ride to school was very boring and very long, well to me. I leaned my head against the window as we pulled up to the school.

"Hmm. That's odd." I said, more to myself than to anyone.

"What's odd Katie?" Rachel asked.

"The school is called Skool." I said.

"Um. Yeah." she said.

"I mean 'Skool' with a 'k' in it instead of 'c h'" I explained.

"Oh. Okay. Hm. You're right." she agreed. I smiled and shoved her jokingly. She smiled and stood up. We walked into the skool and into the office.

"I'm Katie-Marie McKleign and this is my sister Rachel McKleign-"

"Hi."

"Anyways we're new here and we were wondering which classrooms we'd be in." I said.

"Eh. Room... 2... uh. 285. Yeah." the office lady said. I looked at her awkwardly and headed out of the room with Rachel by my side. We walked down the hall, it wasn't very long, and found room 285. I glanced at her with a worried look and she just smiled a smile to encourage me. I took a deep breath and opened the door. The teacher looked at us with an angry look.

"Um. Hi." I said awkwardly.

"Come in! Introduce yourself to the class, and after you sit down I don't wan to hear ANOTHER SOUND FROM YOUR PITIFUL MOUTHS!" she yelled. I flinched but Rachel stepped up happily.

"Hello. I'm Rachel and I'm really nice." she said with a smiled. I rolled my eyes as she took her seat next to some big headed kid with glasses. I sighed and stepped up.

"Hello, my name is Katie-Marie." I said. I stood there for a second then rushed to the closest empty seat next to some kid with, green skin? Why was his skin green? I stared at him, listing possibilities in my head. He noticed me staring and he looked at me. Of course, I'd already spaced out and didn't notice. I didn't snap out of my reverie (A/N reverie is a fancy word for daydream) until the bell rang. I stood up and grabbed my paper bag. The green kid approached me.

"Who are you? Hm? Are you a spy? Are you like the Dib?" he asked. I frowned and gave him a confused look.

"What? Why's your skin green?" I asked.

"It's... a... a... a skin condition. Yeah." he said, he smiled like he had just accomplished something.

"Oh. Okay. What's this 'skin condition' called?" I asked. He looked around nervously. "How should I know?" he asked. I shrugged and started to walk out of the room. Then I realized I had no idea how to get to the cafeteria.

"Hey, um, green kid!" I called. He turned around and I ran to catch up with him. "What's your name anyways?" I asked.

"It's Zim. My name is Zim. Future destroyer of this... this HORRIBLE planet." he said. I looked at him awkwardly. This guy was crazy.

"Oh. Well, do you know how to get to the cafeteria?" I asked.

"WHAT IS WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS?" he yelled, stopping in the hall. "What are you trying to find out human? Hm? You'll never get any information from me. NEVER!" he yelled running down the hall. I watched him and realized that if I didn't follow him I'd get lost. I ran after him and I sighed with relief when I noticed the cafeteria was right there. I scanned the room for my sister, she was sitting with the kid she sat next to in class and a girl with purple hair who was playing a video game. She spotted me and motion for me to come over and sit by her. I bit my lip but I walked over and sat next to her.

"So, this is my sister Katie-Marie." she said proudly, as if I were some kind of trophy.

"Cool, I'm Dib and this is my sister Gaz." he explained. "And I saw you talking to Zim. He's an alien, that's why he has green skin, why he talks about destroying earth, and why he calls us humans all the time. He isn't human." he said.

"Oh. Well that explains a lot." I said. I took out my bagel and ate it slowly. Rachel talked with Dib the whole lunch period, and I spotted where Zim was sitting. I smiled and ran over to him when it was time for recces.

"Hello." I said with a smile.

"It's you! Stay away!" he yelled. I grabbed his arm before he could run anywhere.

"Are you really an alien? And are you really going to destroy earth?" I asked.

"No. Where did you hear that from?" He said nervously, he shot an angry glance at Dib. "It was the Dib, he told you didn't he?" he said.

"Ye-"

"DIDN'T HE?"

"YES!" I said. I sighed. "I was just wondering because... THAT IS AWESOME!" I said.

"Yes, yes. Wait, what?" he said. "How can you think that the destruction of your own planet is a good thing?" he asked.

"I don't know, it just is." I said with a shrug. "It'd be so cool to help you." I said. The bell rang and recces was over. "Well, best we head to class now." I said I turned swiftly on my heel and followed the large crowd of kids inside. I hadn't noticed Zim was right next to me the whole time. For the rest of the day, Ms. Bitters went on about doom. How we're all doomed or something like that.

"Is class always like this?" I whispered to Zim. He nodded, it didn't seem like he was paying attention to the lesson anyways. I sighed and looked up at the clock. Only five more minutes. I sighed and looked at Rachel. She was talking with Dib. Before I knew it I heard the bell ring. I got up and grabbed my stuff. I followed Zim outside.

"So, where do you live?" I asked. He glance at me and started to walk away. I wondered if that meant I should follow or not.

So, I followed him.


	3. The Purple and Green House

Well, that's when I saw it. That green and purple house with the lawn gnomes and I instantly knew it was Zim's. It was so abnormal that it had to be his house. I smiled and stopped on the sidewalk. "I like your house!" I yelled at him. He turned and looked about ready to attack. "Oh, calm down. It's just me." I said with a tiny smile.

"That's a bad thing though." he said, glaring at me.

"Ouch." I said. "I'm sorry, your house is so awesome. I... can I see the inside?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Ugh, why?"

"No."

"I didn't even say please that time."

"NOOOOO!"

"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes. I didn't care about the consequences, I walked onto his lawn and right into his house.

"Hey! Human! You can't do that!" he yelled.

"Well, no one's stopping me!" I yelled back.

"That's it Katie-Marie." He attacked me.

"Ouch! Hey! Get off of me!" I yelled. He tied up my hands behind my back. "Hey! No one said you could do this!" I said.

"Well, no one is stopping me, human." he replied. I stamped my foot on the ground and turned to face him.

"Okay, can we make a deal?" I asked.

"What kind of deal?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'll help you... take over the earth," I said and swallowed, "If you untie me." I said.

"LIES!" he said.

"I'm not lying!" I half yelled, half whined. He shook his head.

"Human, you get one chance. ONE CHANCE! And if you mess up, I'm going to kill you. Personally." he said. I winced and he untied me.

"Wow. You tied me up pretty tightly." I said, examining the indent the rope had left on my wrists.

"Mhm." he replied, obviously not trusting me yet. I sighed and twirled my long brown hair around my fingers.

"So, how can I help?" I asked nicely. He looked at me, examining me, then he turned back to face his kitchen.

"Gir!" he called. And a little robot with cyan eyes came running in to the room.

"Yes, my master." he said, saluting as his eyes turned red. He had a deep, robot voice. I blinked and looked at the little robot.

"This is our new 'helper'" he explained. "I need to ready the lab so you have to watch her. Understand Gir?" he said.

"Okey-dokey" the robot said, this time with cyan eyes and a cuter voice. "Hi there!" he said to me. I watched Zim walk into the kitchen and go down, a toilet? I sighed and looked back at the cute little robot.

"Hi." I said with a weak smile. "I'm Katie-Marie." I said.

"Ooooooh! I like that name. WAFFLES!" He said.

"Uh... okay. Waffles are cool. I guess." I said. He smiled the cutest smile with his tongue sticking out and a blank look in his eyes. "So, I'm guessing your name is... Gir?" I asked.

"Yes." he replied and smiled again. I couldn't help but smile back. "Well, are you, like, Zim's personal assistant?" I asked.

"No, I'm his robot." he said joyfully.

"Oh. Okay." I said. I sighed and sat on the couch looking down at my hands.

"I like your eyes." Gir said, I hadn't noticed him sit by me on the couch. He was twisting his little robot body to see my eyes as I was looking down at my hands. I giggled.

"Thanks?" I replied as I turned my head to see Zim walking into the room, I immediately jumped up, so did Gir. Zim looked at us, first he glanced at Gir then he looked at me.

"I am ready to show you my lab. You WILL NOT tell anyone what you see or do down there. Do you understand Kat-Human?" he asked.

"Yes. Very well understood." I said, smiling a bit at what he called me. No one ever called me Kat.

"Follow me. GIR! Come on!" he yelled. I smiled and followed him eagerly. He stopped in the kitchen in front of a toilet. "This is it." He looked at me.

"A toilet?" I asked, looking at him.

"Get in it."

"Uh, no."

"You said you'd help me."

"Oh my gosh, fine!" I yelled. He helped me up and I looked at him before stepping into the toilet. And suddenly, I was in an elevator! I couldn't believe it. Gir came down next, then Zim. It was a bit crowded but the ride wasn't too long. When we arrived at the bottom the elevator doors opened.

"DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! That goes for you too Gir." he said, glancing at Gir. He stepped off and began walking down a long path. Gir looked at me and took my hand. He must have seen the fear in my eyes. I smiled and squeezed his little metal hand.

"This is my lab, I decided to show you after a bit of though." He said. "I have more to show you." he said. He removed his wig, revealing two antennae and he removed his eyes, they were really contacts, revealing very dark pink, almost red eyes. I gasped and stepped closer to him. I stared at his eyes for a long time.

"You really are an alien." I said quietly. He nodded with a proud smile.

"A proud Irken invader." he replied. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Well Kat-Human. Now that you've seen my secret you will not tell anyone or I will hurt you or even kill you. Okay. Now, leave." he said. I nodded sadly and turned. I walked with Gir back to the elevator, I didn't really notice Zim following us until we were in the elevator.

"See you tomorrow." I said, hugging Gir and walking out of the door. I walked home and I saw my sister with Dib. "Hm..." I said. I ran over to them, almost crashing into my sister. "RAY!" I yelled.

"EEK!" she screamed, she clung to Dib's arm.

"Oh my gosh Ray, it's just me." I said.

"Katie! Don't do that! You scared me!"

"I can see that." I replied flatly.

"Hey." Dib said.

"Hi." I replied, I looked at Ray again. "See you at home." I said. I twirled once and gracefully walked towards Grammie's house.

"She only walks like that when she's happy about something." Ray explained to Dib.

"That was pretty fancy. Does she take ballet?" he asked.

"She used to, I see her practicing sometimes when she thinks she's alone." Ray snickered. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. If I find out why she's s happy I'll tell you, okay?" Dib nodded and Ray ran home.


	4. Almost Death and a New Adventure

I sighed and plopped down onto the couch as soon as I was home. My Grammie was in the kitchen making dinner. I smiled and hummed my favorite tune in my head. Rachel burst through the door.

"I'm home!" she yelled. "Hello sister, dear." she said slyly. "I need help with something, could you come with me please?" she asked. I sighed and didn't answer but I stood up and followed her up to her room.

"Okay, what is is you want from me?" I asked.

"Tell me." she replied.

"Tell you what?"

"Why are you so happy?"

"I can't be happy without having my motives questioned?"

"No."

"What! Are you kidding me?"

"Hah, no."

"Oh my gosh, Ray." I said turning to leave. I twisted the door knob but it wouldn't open. "You've got to be kidding me" I mumbled.

"Locked from the inside with my key." she said with a smirk.

"Rachel! I'm serious, there's no reason!" I said as I continued to pull on the door, even though I knew it was locked.

"Tell me Katie. I can tell your lying." she said.

"Okay, I'm lying. But I'm never telling you!" I said as I pulled a bobby pin out of my hair. "Crud, how do you do this?" I said silently to myself. I stuck it into the lock and just moved it around. Nothing happened.

"Katie, you are not going to get that door open!" she yelled.

"I know!" I yelled back, I turned to her. I slid down the door and looked up at my little sister. "You stink." I said flatly. I glanced at her window and bit my lip.

"Katie, you don't hold grudges. You'll be over this tomorrow. You can trust me!" she said.

"I'm not sure if I really can trust you Ray. I think it's time I find a new best friend." I said. I stood up and slowly walked over to her window. I opened it and I opened the screen and climbed out onto the roof. I was glad my Grammie had a flat roof here. I quickly closed the window and the screen and ran towards my window, too bad the roof wasn't completely flat. I slipped on a patch of ice and slid down the roof. "Eek!" I yelled, grabbing onto the gutter on the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, I have little upper body strength. You cannot imagine how hard it was for me to hang onto that, let along try pulling myself up. I looked down, I was pretty far up. I looked up at the sky and sighed, holding on for my life. "I'm sure that if I fall, I won't get killed. Maybe I'll just break an arm. Of course, I miss my parents and if this did kill me I could see them again." I said to myself. "Well, I'll hold on as long as I can." I whispered to myself. I hummed my favorite tune. (A/N: The tune she hummed earlier and now are the same tune and it's really sad.)

"Psst!"

"What? Who? Where?" I said all at once.

"Let go!"

"What! Are you kidding? I'm not letting go!" I said to the mysterious whisper voice.

"Let go."

"But I'll fall."

"Let go."

"I don't even know who you are." I said looking around.

"JUST LET GO ALREADY!" a different voice yelled. And I smiled because I knew who the second voice was. I knew who was down there.

"I can't just let go! My body won't let me." I said. The second voice sighed and I heard I bit of metal moving and the someone was pulling me onto the roof. It was two people actually. "Gir! Zim!" I said with a smile. I hugged Gir and looked at Zim, I was afraid he'd try and kill me if I hugged him. "How did you guys know I was about to fall?" I asked. Gir smiled.

"I saw you. I was looking around for my piggy cuz I losted it and then I saw you." Gir said proudly. "Then I went to go tell master, and he-"

"Yes, yes. I knew that my robot would mess up if he'd came and save you himself so I had to help because I need your help tomorrow. We're still not friends." he said.

"Oh." I said. I nodded. Gir put his metal hand on my wrist and smiled at me.

"Thanks again. I would have died without you guys!" I said. I hugged Gir again and stood up wearily. I climbed up the roof carefully to my room's window and opened it from the outside. I climbed in and saw Gir and Zim still sitting there, watching me go into my room. As soon as I was inside I poked my head out, but they were gone. I sighed and closed my window and closed the curtains. I walked over to my dresser, pulled on my pjs and climbed into bed. I couldn't fall asleep for hours.

As soon as I had fell asleep, it felt like less than ten minutes later my alarm clock was ringing. I rolled out of bed and dragged myself into the bathroom with a pair of bright blue (A/N: Bright, not light. Meaning they're a regular blue color but they're bright) skinny jeans and a blue, white and black striped shirt. I quickly showered, got dressed and did my hair. I pulled on a pair of socks with stars on them and I pulled on my black converse. I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs. "Morning." I said dully to no one. My Grammie was still asleep and I didn't really care where Rachel was. I grabbed a banana and ate it quickly. I wanted to leave before Rachel today. I sighed and grabbed my gray hoodie again. I pulled it on and walked outside with my backpack over one shoulder, like always. The wind blew my hair out of my face as I walked towards Zim's house. As the house came into view my steps became more graceful and I tried stopping because I did become graceful when I was happy. I walked slowly up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later Gir was at the door.

"HIII!" he yelled. I giggled.

"Hi Gir." I replied. "Where's Zim? I have something to tell him."

"MASTAH! IT'S KATIE!" he yelled. After standing there for a few seconds Zim came over and pushed Gir out of the way.

"Hello Kat-Human." he said.

"Hi. I wanted to say that I fell last night because my sister locked me in her room and she tried to force me to tell her why I was acting so happy so I had to run away because I would have had to tell her about your lab and everything." I explained.

"Mhm." he said, a hint boredom in his voice.

"And, you don't care." I said flatly. He looked at me and then turned towards Gir. "Behave Gir, don't blow up the base while I'm at skool!" he said to Gir.

"Yes, my master." Gir said with red eyes and a salute. He closed the door. Zim turned towards me.

"We could walk. It's really early." I said shyly. I smiled though.

"Sure, whatever." he said. I rolled my eyes and we walked towards the skool. Only our footsteps making noise. "I hate silence." I finally said. He looked at me but still didn't say anything. So I began to hum my favorite little tune.

"What are you doing human?" he asked.

"Humming." I said as I continued to hum.

"What?"

"You don't know what humming is?" I asked. No reply. I laughed, "It's like singing with your mouth closed, I guess?" I said. "It's hard to explain." I said with a sigh.

"Okay." he replied.

"You're really boring. You never say anything interesting." I said. He shrugged. I shook my head as it began to snow.

"What? What is this?" he asked.

"Oh gosh Zim, it's snow." I said. "Frozen water? It melts when it touches human skin." I said, emphasis on the word 'human'.

"Water?"

"Yeah, I said water."

"WATER?"

"That's what I said. Twice." I said frustratedly. "What's your issue?"

"MY SKIN! It burns when water touches it!" he yelled.

"Oh..." I said. "WELL THEN WE BETTER RUN!" I yelled as it started to snow harder. We started running towards the skool.

"WAIT! I have an idea!" he yelled. He suddenly grew spider legs from his metal backpack thing.

"Woah." I said. Suddenly he picked my up and I was dangling in his arms, he was strong! "What?" I said Suddenly we were moving quickly towards the skool. "Whee! I'm flying!" I said. When we were up the steps at the skool the legs went back into the backpack thing and he set me down. "WOAH! That was so AWESOME!" I yelled. "How did you DO that?" I asked.

"My PAK." he said.

"Your what?"

"My PAK. It's a device attached to every Irken when they're... 'born'." He explained. "It holds all of my Zimness inside of it. I cannot live ten minutes without it." he said. "It also has tools, such as my spider legs." he said. We walked into the skool, it was still a little early.

"What do you want to do?" I asked. He shrugged. "Well skool doesn't star for like forty minutes." I said. He shrugged. "You are impossible Zim." I said. "Can I hug you?" I asked

"What's a hug?"

"I'll show you, you have to promise NOT to kill me if you don't approve of it. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He said. I took a deep breath and hugged him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he yelled, but I couldn't let go. I wanted to do this so badly last night.

"I'm hugging you." I said . Finally I pulled away. "Sorry, I just wanted to do that since you SAVED MY LIFE." I yelled. I smiled at him and he smiled a bit back.

"Well. I'm bored." I said

"Yep." he agreed.

"Let's explore." I said eagerly. He nodded in agreement and we set off to explore this mysterious skool.


	5. The New Girl, Friend or Foe?

We walked down each hall, there really wasn't a lot to explore. "Zim?"

"What do you want pitiful human?" he replied.

"Wow, I really am pitiful. Um, we're just going in circles you know..." I said

"Oh course I knew that. Do you think that Zim is stupid?"

"No." I said. "I didn't say you were smart though." I said.

"What? Zim is VERY smart. Smarter than any human!" He said.

"Of course Zim, you're very smart." I said, I smiled at him. He smiled back this time.

" Well Kat-human. You might be as smart as Zim with the proper training. First thing to do, learn how to walk on roofs." he said and laughed.

"You're going to hold that over me forever aren't you?" I said, but I laughed with him. "I can be pretty stupid and clumsy." I said.

"Yes. You can." he replied.

"Oh shut up." I said. Suddenly there was a noise, like the doors of the skool opening. "There's still twenty minutes until skool opens, who could that be?" I asked Zim shrugged. "Well come on then, let's go see who that is." I said. "I'm scared but if we don't approach them then they might get us." I said. "Come on!" I said, grabbing his hand and running with him to the doors of the skool. "Hello?" I called.

"What?" the person said. It sounded like a girl. I slowed my pace as we walked down the hall, it was more of a fast walk now. I was still dragging Zim along with me. "Who's there?" I asked as I turned the corner. I saw a girl about me and Zim's age walking down the hall. "Oi, you!" I called. (A/N: Oi is what British people say instead of hey. And I like British people.) The girl turned.

"Am I early?" she asked, walking towards us.

"Yeah, a little" I said pulling Zim with me towards her. "I'm Katie-Marie, but you can call me Kate. What's your name?" I asked.

"It's Leah." the girl replied. "Why is your boyfriend green?" she asked.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I yelled, letting go of his hand. "He happens to have a skin condition." I said defensively.

"You sure he's not your boyfriend?" she asked. I glared at her then I turned to Zim. "Say something." I whispered.

"Eh, what? Oh. I am ZIM!" he said. I rolled my eyes. "Your such a moron Zim." I said. I turned back to Leah.

"Okay then. Um. I'll just leave you two alone then." she said.

"You're a such a... mf." I said. Decided not to say what I wanted to.

"Oh, so you're gonna have attitude? I can have attitude to Katie-Marie." she said walking up to me. "I'm keeping my eye on you, you here me? BACK OFF!" she yelled.

"Whatever." I said. I turned quickly, grabbing Zim's arm and running off down the hall. She scared me but I was trying to be strong. After we'd ran down the hall a bit I quickly entered a class room, pulled Zim in and closed it. "She scares me." I said.

"Pitiful human." he said.

"Oh, shut up Zim." I said with a small smile. I sighed and looked around. "Five minutes until skool. Guess we better head to class, where ever it is." I said. I opened the door and peeked out. I stepped into the hall and looked around, Zim followed behind. "Well, which way?" I asked. Zim shrugged and started to walk. I looked around, unsure, but I followed him. Somehow, we managed to get to class as soon as all the other children. "Wow Zim, you really are smart." I whispered. I didn't talk to my sister when I got to class, and I saw Leah. She sat behind Dib now. I looked over at Zim who was doing something with a remote of some sort. I looked around and quietly hummed my tune to myself.

The rest of the day was all normal, nothing happened. So finally skool was over. I walked home with Zim. "So, do I get to help out today?" I asked with a smile.

"Maybe." Zim replied. I sighed.

"Well, let me know if I am." I said. I sighed and did a random cartwheel. "Eek! Snow on my hands!" I yelled and started running in circles.

"KAT-HUMAN!" Zim yelled.

"What?" I asked stopping next to him.

"Don't do that!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry." I said. I wiped my hands on my pants and we kept walking. Suddenly I was hit with a snowball. I expected to see Rachel standing behind me. I has partially correct, it was Rachel, Leah and Dib. "Zim, I need you to go to your base. They're going to suspect something and if you want to keep your secret you have to go. NOW!" I yelled. Zim ran quickly as they approached me. "Hey, what's up?" I said nonchalantly.

"You tell us Katie-Marie" Rachel said.

"Why were you with that freak?" Dib asked. Leah said nothing. "Leah? Say your line!" Dib whispered.

"I have my rights not to tell you." I said, I glanced behind me. "Leah, I'm sorry that I was kind of mean to you earlier. I really am." I said quickly. Leah stared at me for a while.

"I guess I am too." she replied. I smiled.

"Are you serious?" I asked. She nodded.

"Leah! Don't join the traitor!" Rachel yelled.

"Shut up Rachel." I mumbled. She growled at me. "What? You don't scare me Rachel." I said. "This town is driving me insane." I said. I turned to walk away. "Leah, come with me." I said with a smile.

"Okay." she said simply. I smiled and skipped to Zim's house. I stopped on the sidewalk.

"You stay here." I said, then I made my way up to the door an knocked. Zim cracked the door open a bit to see who it was. "Zim, it's me." I said joyfully. I smiled and he opened the door all the way. "Hello." I said with a smile.

"Who is that?" he asked. I glanced at Leah and then looked back at Zim. "That's Leah." I said. "Remember? From skool? I'm not sure if she's trustworthy yet so I told her to wait over there." I whispered. He shrugged. "Say something." I said, staring into his eyes.

"I'm BORED!" Leah yelled.

"Sorry." I said back. "I'm coming back later Zim... whatever your last name is!" I yelled at him. I ran over to Leah. "So, what do you want to do?" I asked. I wondered if she was going to be a good friend or not. Maybe she was just hanging out with me to get dirt for Rachel. I shook off those thoughts smiled.

"I'm new, how should I know?" she asked.

"Well I haven't lived here much longer than you." I said with a laugh. "Do you want to go to the park? There's beautiful scenery there." I said.

"Sure." she agreed. I smiled and we walked off towards the park. I hoped this was the start of a new friendship.

* * *

**I DO NOT OWN LEAH! She belongs to girlovesmoosey. My good ol' fanfiction buddy (:**

**Anyways, I'm not sure I did her part that well /:**

**Anyways again, please review (:  
**


	6. Meeting the Tallest

I fell asleep well that night after me and Leah had talked at the park. She started calling me Kate (lol, sound familiar girlovesmoosey?) and we found out all about each other. I told her about my parents, and how they died. She actually hugged me, and made me feel better. I told her about how I almost fell off of my roof because of my sister. She laughed a bit at me but after I thought about it it was kind of funny.

Today is Saturday, I decided I better go to Zim's today. I hoped he wasn't mad. I sighed as I rolled out of bed. I quickly made my bed and picked out a simple outfit. Regular jean colored skinny jeans with a white shirt that said "I'm a Tree-Hugger" and had a picture of a tree smiling in the middle. I took a quick shower, like always, and got dressed. I brushed and straightened my hair. I grabbed my socks and shoes and ran downstairs. It was early for a Saturday, it was about seven-ish. I quickly ate a bowl of Frosted Flakes and pulled on my socks and shoes, black converse. Then I quickly pulled on my usual hoodie and ran out the door, making sure I closed it carefully behind me. I ran to Zim's house, wondering if he was awake. I knocked on the door but got no reply. I could hear voices inside though, angry voices. I opened the door slowly and peeked in. I saw a very tall silhouette standing there. Two very tall silhouettes, actually. I wasn't sure if they were human or not. I closed the door and they all turned towards me.

"Who is that girl?" one of them asked. The other one shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. I saw Zim tied up and I gasped.

"What did you do to him?" I asked. They looked at each other and emerged into the light. They were two tall aliens who seemed to be of Zim's race, they must have been his leaders. One was dressed in red with red eyes and the other in purple with purple eyes. The red one grabbed me by the back of my shirt and examined me. I kicked and squirmed. "Let go of me!" I yelled. I looked around helplessly and then looked down at Zim. "_Where's Gir?" _I mouthed. Zim shrugged. I sighed, he never answered me. That when I heard something in the kitchen. I sniffed the air, was that waffles I smelled? "GIR!" I yelled. Then Gir came running in with a plate of waffles.

"Hey Katie!" he said with a smile. He looked around. "Look Zim! The tallest!" he said with a smile. Zim sighed.

"Gir, untie me!" he said. "QUICKLY!" he added. Gir put his waffles down, ran over and untied Zim. Zim smirked and walked over to the tall aliens, who I guess were called the tallest. "My tallest, please. I am doing well on my mission." he said. "You can't send me back to Foodcourtia!" he yelled.

"Oh yes we can." the purple one said.

"And we're sending this girl with you." the red one said, looking at me with a weird look. "Come on, let's go. Leave the robot." he said. Gir smiled and waved like a maniac. I gave up fighting, I knew I wouldn't win against two aliens who were three times the size of me. They took me and Zim onto a large ship, why didn't I notice I before. They must have camouflaged it. They put me and Zim in our own seats and tied us both up, then they left the room and me and Zim sat there. There were guards outside of the door.

"Where are we going? And don't shrug, give me an answer." I said. He sighed.

"We're going to Foodcourtia. A planet filled with restaurants. But ZIM refuses to go back there. We must escape human." he said wiggling. I blinked but searched around for my house key, I took it out and started to saw at the rope that tied Zim to his chair.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm cutting your rope." I said. After ten minutes of sawing at the rope it finally broke and Zim was free.

"YES! ZIM IS FREE!" he yelled he began to run towards the door.

"What about... never mind." I said sadly. He stopped and turned back. Then he ran back and untied me quickly. "Thank you!" I yelled. We ran towards the door but then I remember the guards. "Zim wait, the guards!" I said.

"Zim can handle guards." he replied as we opened the door. He kicked the guard in his shin and I did the same to the other. We smiled at each other.

"So, where to now?" I asked.

"We must find the escape ships." he said looking around. I guessed that he hadn't been on this ship before.

"Do you know where they are?" I asked. He looked at me for a while then shook his head.

"No." he said. Suddenly we heard a noise behind us, the guards were getting up. Zim grabbed my hand and we started running. Zim obviously had no clue where he was going, we ran past several guards and they all started chasing us. Zim kept running though. I saw him smile suddenly and I looked up to see that there were escape ships up ahead. He ran faster and I ran to keep up with him. He helped me into the first one he saw, he got in and he tried to start it. "NO! This ship is 'out of order'" he said. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. The guards started to bang on the door. I sighed, still gasping for breath after running. I sat there with Zim for a while as the guards started to use a screwdriver to open the door. I started to laugh. "Why are you laughing Kat-Human? We are about to face a terrible doom!" he said.

"Because." I said. "I laugh when I'm nervous" I said as I continued to laugh. "Are they going to kill us?" I asked while laughing.

"Probably." he said. My laughter got really shakey.

"Oh." I said. I looked at him for a while. "Can I have a hug?" I asked. He gave me a weird look.

"Zim does not hug." he said.

"But... please?" I asked. He sighed and looked down. "Please?" I asked again. They began to unscrew the last screw. Zim looked at the door then at my pleading face.

"Fine." he said flatly.

"Yay!" I screamed and hugged him. We sat there as I hugged him until the door was opened. One of the guards pulled me out and held me by my leg. "OUCH!" I yelled. "YOU'RE HURTING MY LEG!" I yelled. I wiggled to get free but that just made it worse. He tightened his grip on my leg and I bit my lip to hold back screaming from pain. "You're squishing my bone." I said in a low tone to the guy, I couldn't manage to speak much louder without screaming. Some other guard went to grab Zim, who had been glaring at the guard who was holing me, but suddenly he ran right out from underneath them. The guard holding me tightened his grip again and began to run after Zim. I squeaked in pain and tears fell from my eyes. And I was sure if I was held like this I'd get a headache. Zim turned a corner and the guards followed, we were in the back, and before we even turned the corner the other guards were running and screaming. I heard Zim laughing evilly. I smiled And the guy holding me froze when Zim came from around the corner with some kind of gun. It was HUGE, I wasn't surprised Zim could hole it though. If he could carry me he could carry a large gun.

"Put down the human." he ordered. The guard dropped me on my head.

"OUCH!" I yelled. "You could have been more specific Zim." I said as I sat up, rubbing my head. Zim gave the guy a look and he ran away. Zim walked over to me and put the gun down. "Hi." I said as I looked up and smiled. He started at me for a while with a blank face, then he smiled back and helped me up. "So, do you remember how to get back to the escape ships?" I asked.

"Not really." he replied and started to walk. I rolled my eyes and followed him, limping slightly. After walking for a while we finally saw them. I saw Zim get a huge smile. He quietly climbed into a ship, examined it then looked at me and nodded. I smiled and walked over, he helped me in and we were off of this ship.

"Back to planet earth?" I asked.

"Yes Kat-human, back to your FILTHY planet." he said. I smiled and sat back to relax for the ride.


	7. Sleeping over?

When we finally reached earth it was already night time. We landed on Zim's front lawn. Zim climbed out and helped me out. I stretched and looked at him. "So, I think it's a bit too late for me to go home. Can I stay at your house for the night?" I asked.

"I don't think so human." he replied.

"Aw. But... please Zim. Please?" I said. I gave him the puppy dog eyes that I always used to use on my dad when I was younger and I wanted to have a cookie before dinner. It worked every time. He looked at me, at first he looked very stern but his face softened and he began to look away from me.

"Fine." he said. "But you have to sleep on the couch and you can't ouch ANYTHING!" he said.

"Oh, thank you Zim!" I said I hugged him and ran into his house. Gir was curled up fast asleep on the couch. "Gir?" I whispered, I shook him lightly.

"WAFFLES!" he yelled as he sat up suddenly. "Oh. Hi Katie!" he said with a smile. I smiled back.

"Gir! I'm sleeping over!" I said with a large grin.

"WOO!" Gir yelled. I smiled. Zim came in and looked at us.

"I'll be down in the lab, don't disturb me." he said. He stopped when he was next to me. "Keep an eye on Gir." he said, he took a glance at Gir and then walked into the kitchen and down the toilet.

"Well. I'm tired." I said to Gir. "I'm going to go to sleep." I said. I lied down on the couch and closed my eyes. I felt Gir's metal hand touch my face. "Gir, whay are you touch my face?" I asked.

"I dunno." he replied. I sighed and opened my eyes to see Gir staring at me.

"Come here you!" I said, picking him up and cuddling him. He smiled and hugged me back. I fell asleep with Gir in my arms.

The next morning I woke up to the sun on my face and Gir in my arms. I sat up and moved Gir inwards on the couch. I stood up and stretched. My hair was surprisingly nice, well nicer than it usually is when I wake up. I checked a clock, it said 6:12. I yawned and walked into the kitchen, I began to make waffles. I dreamed about waffles last night, it was weird.

"WAFFLES!" I heard Gir yell. He came running into the kitchen. I smiled at him.

"Yes Gir, I'm making waffles." I said. I handed him a plate full of them and he ran over to the table to start eating. I shook my head with a smile and continued to make waffles for myself. I saw Zim come up out of his toilet, I smiled at him. "Morning" I said.

"Yeah, whatever." he said.

"Want some waffles?" I asked

"No." he replied.

"Um. Okay?" I said. I went back to cooking and he stood there watching me. I made my plate and turned the waffle iron off. I left it to cool and sat next to Gir at the table. Gir was already finished and had run off somewhere. Zim walked over and sat where Gir was sitting. I quickly ate my waffles and grabbed both plates, Gir's and mine. I took them to the sink and washed them. "Okay Zim. I guess I'll be leaving now." I said.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Kat-Human." he said.

"Yes, you will." I said with a smile. "Gir! I'm leaving!" I yelled Gir ran into the room and hugged me. "Bye Gir." I said.

"Bye Katie." he said with a smile. I looked at Zim and waved. He waved back and I left. As I began to walk home I spotted Leah.

"LEAH!" I called. She stopped walking and looked around in confusion.

"What? Who said that?" she said. I smiled and ran over.

"It was me, hey." I said with a smile.

"Oh. Hey Kate!" she said. We hugged and began to walk again.

"So what are you doing out at seven on a Sunday?" I asked

"I was trying to find my way around town. Why are YOU out at seven on a Sunday?" she said.

"I woke up and decided to go for a walk." I said looking around.

"You're lying." she said.

"Pft. No I'm not." I said.

"Um, yeah you are." she replied. I sighed.

"You see right through me." I replied. She nodded. "It's a complicated story, I can't tell you." I said.

"Well, you're going to tell me."

"Who says?"

"I do."

"Well. Okay. All I'm going to say is that I slept over the green kid's house. Okay?"

"No, I want to know why."

"BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" I yelled. "Oh look my house, bye!" I yelled I hugged her and ran to my house, opening it with my key and closing the door behind me. A bit too loudly. "Crud..." I said. I tiptoed quickly up the steps and into my room. I grabbed some clothes and ran into the bathroom. I did my daily morning routine. After I finished I pulled my socks on and my shoes back on. I also put my hoodie on, it was cold. It was about eight when I finished that. I figured that the rest of the day would be boring so I went downstairs. I decided a that a bowl of cereal wouldn't hurt anything, so I began to make it. But I froze when I heard someone come down the steps. I didn't turn to see who it was, if it was Rachel then my day was not going to be good.

"Morning, sissy dear." she said in the sly way she always did. I slowly finished making my cereal. Ignoring my sister's presence, I sat down and quickly ate my cereal. She watched my every move, even as I washed the dishes. I knew she was trying to get me to talk to her, but I already told myself that it wasn't happening. I sighed, it felt like she was using laser vision on me. "Leave me alone!" I said loudly, I ran towards the door and opened it.

"Hey." Dib said.

"AH!" I screamed, slamming the door on him. He opened it back up and looked at me.

"Ouch, why did you do that?" he asked. I looked at him for a moment before pushing him into the snow and running away. "COME BACK!" he yelled after me. I turned back to see if they were following, but knowing that I can be clumsy that was a bad idea. I didn't notice a crack in the road, my shoe got caught and I fell onto the road.

"Owwwwww." I whined. I rolled my sleeve up to examine my wrist, it hurt. It hurt badly. "My wrist." I said slowly. "I have the worst luck." I said with a sigh.

"Need some help?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I looked up and nodded, grabbing the extended hand with my one good hand. I dusted off and smiled.

"Thanks Leah." I said, hugging my friend. "I'm sorry about earlier, it's just that-"

"It's okay." she said. "Just forget about that for now, I found where a great restaurant is. Want to grab something to eat?" she asked. I smiled and nodded. So we went to get lunch together, like best friends.

* * *

Sorry if there are any spelling errors, my keyboard is stupid xD  
Well, read and review please :D


	8. Where Did She Go?

Well, after Leah and I had our lunch together we went back to my couch and sat in my room talking. About random stuff. Until I heard a knock on the window.

" Wait here a second..." I said as I stood up and walked over to my window, I opened it to find myself face to face with Zim. "Zim?" I whispered frustratedly. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Gir! The base! The lab! Fire!" he burst out. I glanced at Leah who had stood up to watch us.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Okay, Gir made some waffles but he tried to make tacos at the same time so then one of them caught on fire and so did the other! It burnt EVERYTHING up so now I have no base and no lab and I need you to come with me NOW!" he yelled at me. I blinked and stared at him, taking a while for it to finally get to me.

"Oh no!" I finally said. "But, I kind of have a friend over." I said hesitantly. He gave me a look and grabbed my wrist. "Ack! Leah, I-I'll be back!" I called as Zim used his spider leg things to run to his house. "Ouch! You're hurting my wrist!" I complained. He rolled his eyes and carried me like you would carry a baby instead. When we finally reached his house Gir was sitting in the ash crying. I squirmed out of Zim's arms and ran over to him. "Gir! Gir! Oh Gir, don't cry!" I said, picking him up and cradling him in my arms like a child.

"H-hi Katie." he said between sniffles.

"Hi." I said back with a small smile. I looked up to see Zim standing over us.

"I have no way of fixing this in one day, no genius invader, such as ZIM, could fix this in one day." he explained. He glanced at me. I looked back at him, still cradling Gir as if he were my child.

"What?" I asked. He said nothing. "Y-you're not serious are you?" I asked. He continued to stare at me. "But... my sister!" I said. He blinked. "Ugh! Fine, you can stay at my house." I said.

"Excellent." he said. I smiled and hugged Gir. "You get to come stay with me at my house Gir! Isn't that great?" I asked. Gir smiled and nodded. I glanced at Zim, "So, you're not even going to say thank you?" I asked.

"Zim does not need to THANK humans!" he said as he gathered random pieces of stuff. I rolled me eyes and sighed. "Thank you." he mumbled. I smirked, "Your welcome!" I yelled back grabbing him with my one arm and hugging him.

"Ack!" he screamed as I stumbled from a sideways hug to a full on front hug. He easily pried my one arm off of him and sighed. "Well, let's just go then." he said. I smiled eagerly grabbing his hand and ran towards Grammie's house. I remembered my poor friend Leah who knew nothing about this. I burst through the door and Zim closed it with his foot.

"Hello?" I called. No reply. "HELLO?" I called again. Still no reply. I glanced back at Zim and let go of his hand, setting Gir down with him. "Stay here." I whispered. I sneakily walked up the stairs. "Hello?" I called again. I heard muffled noise coming from Rachel's room. "Rachel!" I yelled with anger. I heard Zim and Gir come running upstairs, I pushed open my sister's door to see Leah tied up, and Dib and Rachel standing over her smirking at me. I turned and held my arm out to stop Zim. "No, I have to go in myself. They'll freak if they see you." I said to him in a whisper. Zim didn't reply, he simply leaned against the wall with boredom. I walked in, I was getting tired of this. "Alright, let Leah go." I said.

"Hm. Let me think about that," Rachel said with a glance towards Dib. "NO!" They yelled at me in unison.

"Fine. I'll help her myself." I said walking cautiously towards Leah.

"Go ahead." Rachel said. I took a deep breath and reached over quickly, fumbling with the knot of the rope. I finally got it untied but it was too late by then.

"Let go of me!" I heard Gir say.

"No! You shall never capture ZIM!" I heard Zim yell. I took the tape off of Leah's mouth, grabbed her wrist and ran.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Long story." I said as I ran down the steps, almost tripping over my own feet. I ran out the door I spotted Rachel and Dib. They didn't get very far while dragging a fighting Zim and luring Gir with a taco. I literally tackled Dib and sat on him. "LEAVE ZIM ALONE!" I yelled in his face.

"Jeez. Do you have to yell?" he asked.

"YES! I DO!" I yelled back. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR WEIRD OBSESSION WITH ALIENS IS BUT JUST LEAVE ZIM ALONE! AND LEAVE GIR ALONE!" I yelled someone pulled me off of him. I glanced at Leah who had pulled me up and was giving me an awkward look, she must have been confused. Rachel was helping Dib sit up. Not like I was THAT heavy. I ran over to Zim who was dusting himself off. "Zim. I'm sorry." I said.

"Um. Kat-Human? You did nothing wrong." he pointed out.

"Well..." I shrugged. I sighed and played with my hair looking for Gir. I saw him chasing a squirrel. "GIR!" I called. "COME HERE!" I said. He looked at me and came running over. I gave him a big hug because, you know, he's cuddly and stuff. I glanced around for Leah as Gir took my hand. "Leah?" I called, wondering where she went. So I glanced at Zim who shrugged. "Well, we have to go find her." I said.

"Kat-Human. I have very important-"

"No, she's my friend so I am going to go find her." I said. I let go of Gir's little hand, gave Zim a mean look, then flipped my hair over my shoulder and walked away to search for her.

"Gir, why are humans so dramatic?" Zim asked shaking his head.

"CUPCAKE!" Gir said with a smile.


	9. Leaving Town

"Leah?" I called as I walked down the road towards her house. "Leah?" I stopped to look around. Suddenly someone jumped on my back.

"Hey," the person on my back said. "How much does this ride cost?"

"Leah!" I said with happiness as she slid off my back. I turned to face her, a grin of excitement on my face. "I was starting to get worried!" I said.

"Well, I'm starting to get worried too. I want the whole story, I want it now." she said sternly. I sighed and looked down.

"Fine. Let's go to your house." I said. So we headed off to Leah's house. We went up to her room and sat on her bed. I sat cross-legged and she sat across from me, extending her feet into my lap.

"Well, I'm listening." she said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"You have to promise, you have to SWEAR you will NEVER tell anybody. EVER!" I said to her. She stared at me for a moment before extending out her pinkie. I smiled and extended my pinkie too, we shook pinkies and I told her everything. All about Zim, Dib, Rachel, and the hardest part was about my parents.

"Wow. Your life is insane." she said as she stared down at the bed. I bit my lip.

"Does that mean you don't want to be my friend anymore?" I asked, worry in my voice.

"No! Of course I still want to be your friend! I do!" she replied. I sighed with relief. We sat there for a moment in silence, suddenly I gasped.

"I left Zim. To do stuff. And he has access to my house. Rachel does too. Awe, shoot!" I said quickly standing up. "I have got to go!" I said. "Would you like to... come with me?" I asked, a hopeful tone in my voice. Leah smiled at me and stood up.

"Of course. Now that I know everything, we're partners in crime." she said. I smiled at her and we ran back to my house."

"Wait! He's probably working on his house!" I said glancing in that direction. I looked at Leah and we ran there. I sighed when I saw Zim simply working on something. I slowed my pace as I neared him. I sighed, breathing heavily from running. "Zim. I'm so sorry that I was so... um..."

"Dramatic?" he suggested.

"Yes, that I was so dramatic earlier." I said. He continued to work on whatever he had but he shifted his eyes so he was looking at me.

"Well. I suppose that if it never happens again then..."

"Zim?" I said shyly. "Um. I kind of, sort of..." I sighed looking at Leah. "I told Leah everything." I said. Zim froze for a moment then turned to face me. He stared at me with an angry face before yelling.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE! YOU PROMISED!"

"But-"  
"NO! NOW YOU WILL PAY!"

"But-"

"SHUT UP!"

"ZIM! She's someone we can trust! She can help! I-I-I'm sorry. It's just, I Felt bad because-"

"Shut up Kat-Human."

"Sorry."

"Alright.

"... Sorry."

"OKAY! I FOORGIVE YOU!" he yelled. I smiled and hugged him. Leah giggled.

"Awwww." she said. I blushed and let go of him.

"Shuddup Leah." I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

"In your dreams." she replied, sticking her tongue out back at me. We giggled a bit and Leah came over next to me.

"Alright Zim. Do you need me to get you anything? Hey, where's Gir?" I asked.

"Something about tacos." Zim said shrugging. I flicked his head and turned towards Leah.

"Let's go see where Gir is." I said with a smile. Suddenly I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned quickly to see a bush. I ran over to it and pushed the branches aside to see Dib with binoculars, a camera, and a notepad. "Alright dude, what's your issue?" I asked. "And where is my sister?"

"I don't have an issue! She's at your house." he replied.

"Alright, what ever big head." I said.

"My head is NOT big."

"What ever you say..."

"But... IT'S NOT!"

"Well maybe you should MEASURE it sometime." I said back. He jumped out of the bush and we stared each other down.

"Maybe I will. To prove that it's not big!"

"Hah. Okay. You're going to prove the exact opposite. Big head." I smirked.

"SHUT UP! You...you..."

"Wow, you can't even think of a comeback! I would have assumed with such a big head you'd have a big brain. What do you have in there? Air?" He growled and attacked me "Ah! Let go of me. Ow my head!" I said. We fought for a while until Zim ran over and pulled me over to where the ruins of his house were. "Hey! I was winning!" I said with a tiny pout.

"I see, but I think the armada is coming." he whispered in a low tone, actually sounding worried. I stared into his eyes.

"Alright. Don't worry Zim. Let's see..." I thought for a second. "We could... run... away? I guess." I said. Zim thought for a second.

"I guess we have to." he said. I nodded and walked over to Leah. "We're going to have to go on the run. Are you coming?" I asked. Leah sighed.

"I can't. My parents would get angry." she said, looking down.

"I understand." I said sadly. I gave her a big hug. "Bye Leah." I said.

"Can I come?" someone asked. I turned to see Dib.

"No way! You are trying to expose Zim!" I said.

"Hey! I don't want to be the bad guy here! Please let me come! I'll leave my camera here!" he promised. I opened my mouth to speak but then I looked at Zim.

"Zim? Should we let him...?"

"No! Dib is the enemy of ZIM!"

"Please!" Dib begged. "I can fill in for Leah!" he said.

"Hey!" Leah said angrily.

"Sorry." Dib said.

"I've learned that humans aren't very trustworthy. NO!" Zim said.

"Zim! I can't believe you just said that." I said. He shrugged.

"Alright. You I can trust Kat-human." he said. I smiled eagerly and looked at Dib.

"Aw, come on! If I stay here I will have nothing to do." he said.

"Alright stupid whining big head!" Zim said. "One screw up and we leave you here." he said firmly. Dib smiled eagerly, throwing his binoculars, camera, and notepad on the ground.

"Wow. I guess you really do want to come." I said. "Sorry for being so mean to you earlier. It's just that I'm Zim's little helper thing." I said.

"Slave." Zim corrected. I shot him a look then turned back to Dib.

"Sorry I attacked you." Dib said. I laughed.

"You're kind of weak." I said. "No offense."

"Well I'm offended!" he said.

"KATIE!" I heard an eager voice yell.

"GIR!" I yelled with excitement as the little robot in a dog costume ran over to me. I grabbed him into a hug.

"We have to leave now." Zim said. I nodded and looked around for Leah. But she had already gone. I sighed.

"Alright, let's go." I said so we began to walk. We walked mostly in silence to the edge of town. Suddenly we heard someone yelling.

"WAIT! WAIT UP! KATIE!" the voice called. I turned to see Leah running towards us.

"LEAH!" I said as she ran up to me. She slammed into me, causing us both to fall. We sat there giggling for a second before we stood up.

"I'm coming with you. Remember, we're partners in crime now." she said with a smile.

"Alright! Let's go!" I said I took Gir's hand and we all continued to walk, right out of town.


	10. Walking and walking and walking xD

Sorry I can't post as often as I used to. I have a lot of school work and it's hard to get on the computer because whenever I finish homework one of my sisters is already on the computer. Well, here's chapter ten. I hope you like (:

* * *

We had been walking for about ten minutes until Gir began to complain.

"Katie?" Gir asked.

"What sweetie?" I asked, sounding like a mom.

"I'm hungry." He replied.

"Gir, sweetie, we've only been walking for ten minutes. How can you be hungry?" I asked. Leah giggled.

"I want a taco!" he said firmly.

"Sorry Gir, you have to wait." I replied.

"TACO!" he screamed, he stopped walking causing me to drag him a bit.

"Gir!" I hissed. "Do you want your master to be angry?" I hissed.

"No." he said timidly.

"Well then you better keep walking." I said.

"I'm sorry." he sniffled. I stared at him for a while, trying to stay angry. It was just impossible though.

"That's alright." I said, scooping him up and running to catch up to everyone else.

"Where are we even going?" Dib asked.

"Somewhere." I said with a shrug. "Anywhere." I said looking up at the clouds.

"That's a logical answer." Dib said sarcastically.

"Shut up Dib, no one asked you!" I said.

"Sorry, calm down." he said. I sighed and took a deep breathe.

"Sorry." I whispered and sighed. Dib walked over and put an arm around my shoulders.

"That's okay." he said, I looked up ay him for a second then back at where I was walking. I saw Zim yank Dib's arm off of me out of the corner of my eye. Leah smiled at me and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Well, we should probably stop in the next town we can find. I'm getting really cold." I said. "I didn't expect it to be so... cold." I said, looking up and glancing around.

"I've lived here almost my whole life, trust me when I say, there won't be another town for a while." Dib said. I pouted and looked down at the little robot I cradled in my arms. He smiled at me, making me feel a bit more hopeful.

Is Gir magic?

No he couldn't be.

But whatever, I glanced over at Zim and Dib as we trudged on quietly. "Twinkle twinkle ABC's, row row row your boat, itsy bitsy spider." I sang merrily. Everyone, except Leah who was used to this, shot me a weird look. "Sorry, I'm bored." I said, shrugging. After what seemed like ten years of walking I saw lights in the distance, getting closer. "IT'S A TOWN!" I sang, spinning around.

"Whee!" Gir squealed as I spun.

"Look! There! Right there! You see it? Seeeee it? It's a town!" I yelled at my friends.

"Yes Kat-Human, I see the town." Zim said, sounding annoyed. I set Gir down and walked over to him.

"Someone sounds grumpy." I sang. Jumping on his back. "Carry me!" I giggled.

"Alright Katie. Calm down..." Leah said coming over to pull me off. I shot her a look as Zim actual began to walk with me on his back. Gir ran over to walk right next to us. After about twenty minutes we were finally at the town. I was asleep on Zim's back until Gir started to scream about something.

"TACO!" Gir screamed as he pointed at a taco place. I rubbed my eyes sleepily, and looked around.

"We're here?" I asked, letting out a yawn.

"Yes, but you fell asleep pathetic little human." Zim said. I smiled and then I noticed that Zim was still giving me a piggyback ride. I slid off of his back and wobbled a bit, causing Leah to grab my arm. She smiled at me.

"Leah!" I said happily, hugging her.

"Katie!" she said back, hugging me. "You fell asleep as soon as Zim started to carry you." she said with a giggle. I blushed as we continued walking.

"I did?" I asked.

"Mhm." she said with a nod. "You were so cute on his back, he made sure that you didn't fall." she said.

"Aw, shut up." I said pushing her playfully.

"Make me" she said, pushing me a bit harder.

"I will." I said after I gained my balance, I pushed her as hard as I could and she stumbled to the side. She smiled evilly and pushed me as hard as she could I stumbled a foot away and fell. I laughed standing up and dusting myself off as I ran to catch up. Gir turned to me as soon as I caught up to the group. He had pleading eyes, I glanced up to see that we were outside of the taco place. "Who's up for tacos?" I asked with a shrug. Everyone, even Zim, seemed excited about the idea. "Alright, who has money?" I asked. Gir held up a handful of cash.

"I do! TACOS!" he yelled.

"Gir! Where did you get that money?" I asked. He shrugged. I sighed, rubbing my temples, then I took the money. We walked into the taco place.

"Welcome to the Taco Shack, may I take your order?" the guy at the counter said, sounding like a robot.

"Um yes... five tacos please." I said.

"That'll be ten fifty-six." the guy said. I handed him the money and he handed me a bag.

"Thanks!" I said as I brought the tacos over to the table my friends sat at. "Tacos for everyone!" I said happily. Passing out the tacos then sitting next to Zim and eating my own taco with a large grin.

"Well. Are we staying in a hotel here for the night?" Dib asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. I glanced at Zim.

"I guess so, you weak little humans need sleep." Zim said. I smiled and nodded.

"Well we have enough money for it because Gir somehow had a lot of money..." I said. I looked at Gir who enjoyed his taco merrily. When everyone was finished we threw out our trash and looked for a hotel. We found one and walked inside.

"One room please. For one night." I said handing him about one hundred fifty dollars.

"Here is your key." the guy at the desk said, handing me the key.

"Thank you." I said, sounding as mature as I could. So we headed to the elevator, crammed inside and went up to our room. "Well we have three beds... me and Leah can share because girls can do that, and I'll take Gir too. We'll take the pull-out bed. You two can sleep in those beds." I said pointing at the two rooms down the hall. "Sound good?" I asked

"Fine with me." Dib said.

"Whatever." Zim said.

"Okay." Gir said with a smile. Leah and I pulled out the bed and set it up, then I grabbed Gir and I curled up in bed with him. We turned on the television and watched Regular Show episodes until I fell asleep.

The next day I woke up to the feeling of nothing in my arms and the smell of waffles. I sat up to see Leah sitting at the kitchen table as Gir made waffles. I smiled at the sight, got up and walked over. I knew my hair was a mess but I sat down across the table from Leah anyways. "Morning." I said with a smile.

"Morning." she replied.

"Morning everyone." Dib said, walking into the room. His hair looked exactly the same as it did yesterday.

"How does your hair still look neat?" I asked, feeling embarrassed by my messy hair.

"I showered." Dib said with a smile and a shrug.

"Oh." I said. He smiled and sat down in a chair.

"I think I'm going to go shower then." Leah said.

"Alright." I said. She walked into the bathroom and locked the door.

"So..." Dib said.

"So..." I said as I stared at the table.

"Can you tell me why we're on the run like this?" Dib asked casually.

"No." I said, looking up at him.

"Please?" he said.

"No." I said flatly.

"Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?" he begged, giving my puppy dog eyes.

"Stop it Dib! I can't tell you!" I said turning away.

"Why not?" he whined.

"Because... I can't." I said. He poked me, hard. He kept doing so, making my arm numb. "Ouch. Quit it!" I said, slapping his hand.

"Hello filthy humans." Zim said, walking into the room.

"Hi Zim!" I said cheerily as he took a seat in the chair next to me, across from Dib. Dib scowled but said nothing. I sighed looking at Dib, then Zim, then back at Dib, then back at Zim. "This is going to be a LONG trip." I said with a sigh.


	11. Shopping

Hey guys! I decided to continue this story after a lot of though and I might do a somewhat remake of it at some point too since my writing has improved since I started it. Anyways, I haven't watched Invader Zim for a while now so Zim and Dib may be a bit out of character. Sorry about that, still hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, I obviously don't own the wonderful Invader Zim or any of the characters.

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I waited for Leah to finish showering as I sat there with Zim and Dib in silence. The two of them scowling at each other, but not saying a word. "You guys make it awkward to be in the same room as you." I said flatly. Neither of them replied to this comment. "Alright. Well I'm just going to go over... somewhere else then." I said, standing up. As soon as I stood up Leah came out of the bathroom. "I call the shower next!" I yelled.

"You're the only other person that needs to shower." Leah pointed out.

"Oh." I said blinking. We stared at each other for a few seconds before laughing a bit. Then I went into the bathroom. I locked the door and quickly got into the shower. I was really cold for some reason and the hot water felt good on my skin. I tried not to take too long, and finished within ten minutes. I fixed up my hair and blow dried it with the blow dryer they supplied in the bathroom. Once I was dressed I joined the others at the table.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Leah asked. I looked at her, then I looked at Zim. Zim shrugged, as usual. I sighed with annoyance and stood up. "Well, we ought to go shopping since none of us even bothered to pack anything to bring with us on this wonderful journey and the money Gir has should be enough to get us the things we'll need. I guess I'll go, you guys can stay here. It shouldn't take too long." I said as I stood up. Zim stood up as well.

"I'll join you Kat-Human." he said. I stared at him for a second.

"You don't have to-" I began, but he cut me off.

"I'll go with you." he said firmly. I blinked and shrugged.

"Okay, if you're sure." I replied, I walked over to Gir. "Gir, I need that money you have." I said kindly to him. He happily took it out and handed it to me. "Thank you." I said with a large smile. "Okay, Leah and Dib I need you guys to clean up while we're gone."

"Wait, who put you in charge?" Dib said. I glared at him for a moment before walking over to him.

"If you don't then I will leave you in the snow and you'll have to find your own stinking way home." I hissed at him. "Leah, I know I can trust you. Don't tell him anything even if he begs. And make sure he helps you out." I said. "And take care of Gir. Make sure he doesn't destroy the place. And try to make it look like how it was before we came." I continued, Zim rolled his eyes and began dragging me toward the door with him. "And Dib you better help her." I added.

"Okay, get out of here already!" Leah said jokingly with a laugh. I smiled and waved to them before closing the door behind me. I turned to Zim as I put the money in my pocket.

"Why did you decide to come with me? And how come you never talk to me? You always shrug and tend to seem so bored all the time." I blabbered on as we began walking, "What's with that? You're so strange sometimes, it's kind of easy to tell you aren't a human. I mean, you-" Zim covered my mouth with his hand.

"Kat-Human, you talk too much. No wonder I want to destroy this filthy planet." he said irritatedly.

"Hey!" I said, crossing my arms and pouting. We walked out of the hotel in silence until I spotted a Wal-Mart. That was lucky for us because Wal-Mart would have everything we needed.

"There, we have to go in there." I said, pointing at the Wal-Mart. Zim said nothing but followed me as we went over to it. I got a shopping cart and we walked around in there gathering all sorts of supplies. I grabbed a couple of backpacks to hold all our things in, some brushes for our hair, toothbrushes and toothpaste, other things we may need for hygiene, coats, gloves and boots for everyone since it would be chilly and snowy as we walked, blankets in case they would be needed, and a bunch of snacks just in case we get hungry along the way. I grabbed two flashlights and batteries for each, we might need them in case we're stuck traveling at night. I pondered getting a tent because this money wouldn't last long if we stayed at a hotel every night and we need to save it for food. I sighed and rubbed my temples as I thought about this. Zim seemed to pay no attention to anything for a while. Then he glanced at me since we had been standing in the same aisle for five minutes now.

"Kat-Human. What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm thinking about something." I replied, covering my face with my hands before sliding them off. "Hm. I need your opinion. Do you think we should get a tent and some sleeping bags? This money won't last forever, especially if we keep staying in hotels." I said, I stared at him as I waited for an answer.

"A tent is some sort of pathetic human type of shelter?" he questioned. I face-palmed and took a deep breath.

"Look, that is a tent. See? It's sort of like a shelter but it's not very sturdy. Tents are usually used when people go camping." I explained. He stared at me with confusion. "Ugh, you are so clueless. Camping it when people leave home for a short period of time, like a few days, maybe a week to go stay in the out doors to enjoy nature. Of course that's not what we'll be doing but the tent could still come in handy. Actually, never mind your opinion. I decided that we should get it." I said, taking it down off the shelf and adding it to the cart. I grabbed some sleeping bags for everyone as well. I thought for a moment trying to think if we'd need anything else. "Do you think we need anything else?" I asked Zim.

"Your pathetic human technology is primitive compared to Irken technology." he stated.

"Okay, that's nice, but do you think we need anything else?" I asked again.

"Irken technology." he said simply.

"Zim!" I said, annoyed but with a tiny laugh. "Oh never mind, you're an idiot sometimes you know?" I said with a laugh.

"Zim is not an idiot, Zim is the smartest creature on this planet! You stinking humans are the stupid ones!" he said loudly.

"Okay Zim, whatever you say." I said, rolling my eyes. I decided that we had everything we needed and headed over to the register. A teenage boy with a blank expression on his face was the cashier. I paid for all of our things and we headed outside. "Well, we have to carry these bags back to the hotel you know." I said flatly to Zim. He took all of the bags except one, I remembered that he's quite strong. I took the last bag and we walked back to the hotel.

"I hope they cleaned up." I said as we took the elevator up to the room. Of course, no reply from Zim. I glanced at him for a moment then the elevator doors opened. We walked to the room and I unlocked the door. We entered the room and I found it to be even messier than before. Dib, Leah and Gir were asleep in various places around the room. Leah on the pull out couch bed, Dib on the floor next to her and Gir curled up net to Leah. I let out a sigh and put the bag down on the table, Zim did so with all the other bags as well.

"Well, I'm going to clean up a bit." I said with a sigh. I began picking up food around the room. When I looked up I was surprised to see Zim doing the same thing. I smiled to myself as I continued cleaning.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll probably post another one today because when I originally wrote this chapter it was way longer so I decided to cut it in half a bit. I need to proofread the second half still. (:


	12. A Story and a Visitor

Well here's chapter 12! It gets a little sad for a bit so be prepared.

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We managed to clean up all the garbage from around the room. I made the beds that Zim and Dib slept in. I decided to take all of the things out of the bags and pack them into the backpacks. There was one for each of us. I cut the tags off of everything and took the tent out of the box. Luckily it came with it's own storage bag, as did the sleeping bags. I managed to fit the sleeping bags and blankets into everyone's backpacks along with a few snacks, and some of the other various things I bought. I put one flashlight in my backpack and the other in Leah's. I looked up to see Zim sitting at the table watching me and drinking a can of soda.

"You're really strange sometimes, did I mention that? Why are you just sitting there watching me?" I asked in a quiet voice so I wouldn't disturb the others. Zim shrugged, figures he would do that. "You never say anything to me. Why? Do you still think I'm untrustworthy? Are you upset with me? What? Why don't you ever say a word to me? Unless you're telling me to do something or saying something mean?" I asked, my voice rising a bit. We sat there staring at each other for a moment in silence until he put down the can of soda.

"I can't figure you out Kat-Human." he said finally. I stared at him in shock.

"Wh-what?" I replied.

"You're crazy sometimes and sometimes you get really upset and defensive. And I can't figure you out. Are all humans like that? The Dib monkey isn't. And neither is Leah." he said, he picked the soda can back up and took another sip.

"I-I..." I stuttered, at a loss for words.

"Another thing you do is you care for Gir like he's you own stinky worm baby. You act like a... mom." he said slowly, obviously unsure if that was the correct term for it.

"I-I-I don't do that." I said with a nervous laugh. I finished packing the bags and set them near the door along with everyone's coats, gloves and boots. "That doesn't even explain why you won't talk to me." I added.

"You know all my secrets and I know none of yours Kat-Human." he said seriously, staring at me. I stared back in silence and thought about this. He was right, I never told him why I moved here. I never told him about... my parents. I glanced at the others and bit my lip. I sat down across from him at the table, he continued to stare at me obviously waiting for me to say something.

"I'm assuming you want to know about my life. I'm surprised you even deemed me trustworthy before knowing my past. What if I was a serial killer?" I asked.

"Silly human, that would make you even more helpful to the mission." he replied.

"You're sick." I said flatly. I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Well, I guess the only thing there is to tell is that I've been taking care of my sister since I was about seven. My parents, they had to work all day and almost all night. They were always there for dinner and to tuck us into bed though. We were a very close family. I was always protective of my sister. Even though we're almost the same age." I said with a shrug. Zim said nothing, he just stared at me, waiting to hear more. "Well, it was just like that for six years. Until a few weeks ago... something terrible happened. My parents... they got into a really bad car accident. They were killed." I said, my voice lowered into a whisper as I fought back tears. It's almost impossible though, but I continued with the story as tears poured down my cheeks. "My sister and I stayed with our neighbors for a while but they couldn't care for us forever. So we were sent here to live with our grandmother. We left our old town, our old friends and came here." I whispered, using all my power not to bawl my eyes out. It's still really hard for me to accept the fact that I'll never see them again. Never see their smiling, proud faces again.

"Kat-Human?" I heard Zim say suddenly, snapping me out of my daze.

"Huh?" I said, tears still pouring down my cheeks.

"I was wondering if this would be a moment in which you filthy humans would... hug?" he asked. I stared at him for a moment, kind of confused.

"Well, yes I suppose so." I said with a sniffle. Zim walked over to me and hugged me. Startled at first, I sat there motionlessly for a second but then I hugged him back. I let out all the tears that needed to be let go. "I'm sorry." I said when we finally broke the embrace.

"Kat-Human, why are you apologizing this time?" he asked.

"I tend to get emotional when I talk about my parents." I replied, wiping my eyes and laughing. I sat there for a moment laughing as I wiped the tears off of my face.

"Are you sure I'm the alien here?" he asked me as I laughed, which only made me laugh even harder. Then I heard a noise from where the others were and I suddenly stopped. Gir woke up and looked over at us.

"You're back!" he said happily, getting off of the bed and running over to me. He hugged me and smiled up at me. I laughed as I hugged him back. "I want a taco." he said.

"Okay, I'll go get you one." I said. I took my new winter jacket and pulled it on. "Zim, wake them up please. I'll be back soon." I said and I left the hotel room.

**No one's POV:**

Zim walked over and smacked Dib. "HEY! What did you do that for?!" Dib yelled at him.

"Kat-Human told me to wake you up." Zim said. He turned to Leah who had already been awaken by Dib's yell.

"Where's Katie anyways?" Leah asked with a yawn as she stood up. Just as Zim was about to answer there was a knock at the door. Everyone exchanged a look, Leah walked over and opened it. "Rachel?" she said in confusion. Zim and Dib both looked over at the door and, sure enough, there was Katie-Marie's sister standing there in the door way.

"Hi there." Rachel said a bit awkwardly. "Where's Kate?" she asked, sounding worried.

"How did you even find us here?" Leah asked.

"Trust me, it wasn't easy. Luckily it hadn't snowed hard after you guys left and so I followed your footprints. Then I came into the hotel, asked the lady at the desk what room you were staying in and came up here." she stated simply.

"Oh." Leah said. "Why do you need Katie?" she asked.

"Well, I wanted to make sure she was here and not out in the snow. It's snowing pretty hard out there." she said.

"She went to get Gir a taco." Zim said, walking over to Rachel and Leah.

"So she went out in the snow?" Rachel asked, worry in her voice.

"Yes you stupid human I just said that." Zim replied.

"Oh no, we have to go get her!" Rachel yelled.

"Why? What's wrong?" Dib asked.

"I'll explain on the way!" Rachel said, already running down the hall to the elevator. Zim, Dib and Leah exchanged a look. They grabbed the winter coats Katie-Marie had brought them and put them on. Zim got Gir and they followed Rachel down the hall and down the elevator.

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Sorry for switching the point of view at the end there but I had to find some way to bring in Rachel while Katie-Marie was out. Anyways, it'll return to Katie-Marie's point of view in the next chapter. Yay for cliffhanger endings. (:


	13. The Hospital

Well sorry it took so long to get this chapter up for those of you that even read this story. I was babysitting last weekend and I haven't turned my laptop on until today. Well I hope you enjoy this chapter. (:

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I was returning to hotel when I felt it coming on. The snow, the cold, it was taking it's effect on me. I guess it was pretty stupid of me to try and run here to get the taco quickly without any trouble. My face began to feel like it was burning but I was so cold. I had to keep going though, I had to bring Gir his taco.

The snow was so thick now, I could hardly see a foot in front of me. I dropped to my knees and stared at the ground. Why did it have to start snowing so hard, I just wanted to bring Gir a taco. I unzipped my coat and put the taco inside of it then zipped it back up. I then fell forward a bit, sticking my hands out in front of me so that I didn't fall face first into the snow.

"Katie? Katie are you out here?" I heard someone calling. I believe that the voice belonged to Rachel. I coughed a little bit and I heard footsteps rushing towards me. "Katie! Are you okay?" Rachel asked me as she knelt down next to me.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm on my hands and knees for no reason." I said weakly with another cough. "G-gir... is Gir here?" I asked, staring at the blurry, dark silhouettes in front of me.

"Hiya Katie!" Gir said from somewhere. I was kind of losing my vision a bit.

"H-h-here. Your taco." I said weakly, laying on my side in the snow and taking out the bag with his taco. I pushed it into the air, unsure of where Gir was. Someone took the bag out of my hand and I heard people whispering. I tried to listen but I couldn't focus very well, I coughed again.

"Katie, we need to get you to a hospital okay?" Leah said from wherever she was standing. I just nodded, I had lost the strength to even try and talk. "Um... someone needs to carry her." Leah said after a few seconds of silence.

"Zim shall carry her with my mighty Irken strength!" Zim said. I wanted to laugh but again, I didn't have the strength to.

"What?" Rachel said.

"He's an alien." Dib whispered.

"Dib! Now is not the time. Hurry up Zim, we have to hurry she looks so pale!" Leah said with a worried tone.

"Do not tell Zim what to do, human." Zim said, although he sounded a bit worried as well. I started to feel very tired just as I felt someone slide their arm under my neck and my legs and lift me easily as if I weighed nothing.

"Wait, which way is the hospital?" Leah asked.

"I saw one on the way to you hotel, come on let's hurry!" Rachel said. We began moving but I fell asleep, or rather passed out, before we got to the destination.

When I woke up I was in a hospital bed, luckily I wasn't hooked up to an IV but I could see that I had been for a while. I wondered how long I had been out for. I turned to my right and there were all my friends and my sister in chairs against the wall in the corner. Zim was farthest right, then it was Leah, then Rachel then Dib. I didn't even see Gir anywhere, where had he gone off to? Zim was the only one awake but he was staring at the ceiling, he didn't even notice I was awake. Rachel was asleep on Dib's shoulder and Leah was asleep with her head back against the wall.

I looked down at myself, glad to see I had been left in my own clothes. I didn't feel very tired at all anymore, I felt actually quite fine and ready to get going again. But turning to my left there was a huge window and I could see it was still snowing quite hard. I didn't really know what to do now, there was nothing to do really except for talk to Zim. I turned my head to the right again and he was still staring at the ceiling. That's so strange, didn't his neck hurt or anything?

"Zim. You've been sitting like that for the past five minutes aren't you uncomfortable?" I asked. Zim actually jumped and looked surprised to see me up.

"That is none of your concern, Kat-Human." he replied. I couldn't help but giggle a little bit at him.

"Except it is though. You're my friend, aren't you?" I replied with a smirk.

"Zim does not befriend stinky humans." he said back to me, crossing his arms.

"Then why are you even here? You were worried about me. I can tell." I said slyly.

"Lies!" Zim yelled, this somehow didn't wake the others up.

"Nope, it's the truth. I can see it in your little Irken face. You the mightly Invader Zim, you were worried about a little pathetic human. HA!" I said triumphantly.

"YOU LIE! Zim would never feel such emotions like that towards a smelly pig human." he said back to me.

"No, YOU LIE! Don't lie to me, Zim. I might have to come over there and make you tell the truth." I said, holding back my laughter.

"Silly Kat-Human, you can't make the mighty Invader ZIM do anything because I AM ZIM!" he yelled loudly. I laughed at him, because how could you not laugh if someone said that to you. Finally the others began to stir and Gir came back into the room, he had on his dog disguise and he had a pudding cup.

"Katie's up!" Gir squealed with excitement. This comment caused the other three to wake up quite suddenly. Leah was the first one over to my bedside, she was hugging me tightly before I even had time to react.

"Katie! We were so worried about you. Rachel told us everything, how come you never mentioned the fact that your immune system is weak?" she said, sounding upset.

"I didn't want you guys to worry about me." I replied, staring at my hands in my lap.

"Katie, are you nuts? You could have DIED." Rachel said.

"Well jeez, thanks." I said, looking out the window. Everyone was surrounding my bed except for Zim, who stayed in his chair.

"Well, are you feeling okay now?" Dib asked me. I nodded but said nothing.

"Want some pudding?" Gir asked me. I smiled, he was just so adorable sometimes.

"No thank you Gir." I said with a kind smile. "When can we leave?" I asked, I was already sick of being in this hospital.

"I don't know, the doctor doesn't even know you're awake yet." Leah said.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Only about 15 hours." Dib said. I stared out the window again.

"I want to leave." I said. "Can I at least get up and walk around a little?" I asked.

"I don't know, the doctor..." Rachel started but she stopped mid-sentence and shrugged. "I don't see how it could hurt you." she said. I felt totally fine as I pulled back the sheets and stood up. Dib, Leah and Rachel stood in a circle whispering for a bit so I walked over and sat by Zim.

"Okay, so tell me the truth. Were you actually worried about a stinky pig human like me?" I asked him with a tiny smile.

"Alright Kat-Human, I was worried about you but only a very tiny small amount. Zim cannot go around worrying about you stinking humans when I still have to blow up this planet!" he said, waving his hands in the air.

"I KNEW IT!" I screamed at him, giggling and hugging him tightly around the neck.

"Gah... Kat-Human... let go!" Zim said, struggling to get free of my grip, this only caused me to squeeze him tighter.

"Not until you hug back." I half sang, half said normally. Zim sighed with exasperation and wrapped his arms unenthusiastically around me. I squealed and squeezed him even tighter, if that was possible, before letting go.

"Kat-Human, stop doing that. Irken invaders do not hug. Especially not the mighty invader ZIM!" he yelled, standing up and pointing in the air.

"Shut up, Zim." I said jokingly as I stood up as well. The others, who totally ignored the whole scene, had just finished their discussion. "So, let's go!" I said enthusiastically to the others. I felt surprisingly full of energy despite almost dying.

"No, Kate. No. We don't want to risk you collapsing again, not until the snow clears up a bit." Rachel said.

"And when did you guys become my parents? I can do what I want." I replied.

"Katie, we just want what's best for your health." Leah said.

"Well I can worry about myself just fine, please and thank you." I said. I grabbed my coat and put it on along with my boots and my gloves. Leah and Rachel both grabbed one of my arms.

"NO, Kate. We won't let you leave this room. We're worried about you." Rachel said. I pulled myself easily free of their grasp and turned to face them.

"I feel fine! Can't we just go please?" I asked them, knowing they wouldn't let me leave. They shook their heads and Dib closed the door. I sideways and looked at Dib, who now stood in front of the door with his arms crossed.

"We just care about you is all." he said seriously. I sighed and looked back at Rachel and Leah who nodded in agreement. I looked down at my feet for a second and slowly sank down to my knees. I covered my face with my hands and began to sob. Everyone began to rush over but Rachel held up a hand to stop them.

"No, let me handle this." Rachel said, kneeling down next to me as the others went to sit down. "Kate..." she said slowly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I hate hospitals." I nearly hissed, lowering my hands from my face. My expression was a mixture of anger and sadness. Tears of frustration and despair ran down my cheeks. Rachel sat there for a moment, staring at me. Then she dropped her gaze to look at the floor as well as tears ran down her cheeks as well.

"I-I know. You used to... say that all the time... when we were younger... I remember." Rachel said as she let out sobs.

"I... it's hard... to..." I stuttered but the sobbing took over until I was literally bawling and Rachel had joined in. Leah, Dib, Gir and Zim all looked over in surprise. Leah ran over immediately to comfort us both. I was still kneeling but I was slumped over, staring at the floor. My body shaking with every sob, tears fell onto the ground beneath me. Gir came to try and cheer me up as well, but I couldn't hear anything besides my own sobs. Dib looked quite conflicted over who to try and comfort, he ended up putting his arm over Rachel's shoulder.

Rachel's sobs stopped much sooner than mine, I just had trouble putting myself back together. I shoved away everyone's attempts at comfort though, I knew it wouldn't help.

"Kat-Human, pull yourself together. We have a planet to destroy, you know." Zim said quietly next to my ear. I took a few deep breaths and sniffled, wiping my eyes with my gloves. I sat there for about ten minutes. I stood up finally and pulled off my jacket, boots and gloves and put them back where they were before. Everyone stood there watching my every move. I stopped next to them, holding my wrist and staring at the ground.

I hugged Rachel tightly, then I hugged Leah even tighter. I bent down next to Gir and hugged him as well.

"I love you, Katie!" Gir exclaimed happily as he hugged my back tightly. I smiled and moved on to hug Dib next. Dib was startled at first but then I felt him gently embrace me back. I pulled away and smiled at him, then I turned to Zim. Before I could hug him, he was hugging me tightly around the waist. I smiled and hugged him back, wrapping my hands around his neck.

"Zim, thank you." I whispered with a tiny laugh. Then I pulled away and looked around at all of them "I'm lucky to have you all as my friends." I said with a smile. Then I returned to the bed and curled up in it, pulling the covers up to my neck and falling asleep.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I think I keep getting Dib and Zim out of character. If you read just let me know your thoughts on that please, just let me know if I need to work on getting them in character. Any friendly suggestions would be nice actually. (: I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.


	14. Hospital Sucks

Yeah so I'm still here and felt the sudden urge to update this story because I must be crazy and it's like 2:30 A.M. and I have work at 11 A.M. tomorrow but I miss this story and like I haven't even watched the show in like a year but I miss it and yeah. It' giving me nostalgia. I'm weird like that. This chapter was actually just saved on my laptop like I just read through it and fixed some grammatical and spelling errors and decided to post it. Okay hope you enjoy, Zim and Dib are so OOC in this story but like I don't even care anymore I just have fun writing it.

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A few days passed and I had to stay in the hospital for longer than I had hoped. Although I was no longer angry at my friends I refused to talk to anyone while I was there. I would only reply with slight nods or shakes of my head. For the most part I sat on the windowsill and stared outside. Everyone brought me food but I only ate bits and pieces, the rest I let Gir eat secretly at night so they would think I was eating.

It wasn't healthy but luckily the nurses didn't notice and on the third day the doctor said I was free to go as soon as a parent or legal guardian came to get me. This presented a problem though. If Grammie came to get me we'd all be in deep trouble and I knew I couldn't let that happen. The only other choice would be sneaking out, something I was getting used to. I wasn't very happy with all this sneaking out and we probably wouldn't be paying the bill for this lovely hospital stay either.

"Hey Dib, what time is it?" Rachel asked, sounding as bored as ever.

"Three thirty." he replied in a similar tone. They had stayed with me in the hospital this whole time, despite the fact that I didn't talk to them. Leah let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Does anyone have any idea of when we'll be leaving?" she asked, everyone shook their heads and turned towards me. I stared back at them, but said nothing. I figured I ought to tell them about what the doctor said because I was probably the one most eager to leave.

"The doctor said I was free to go..." I stated quietly. Leah jumped up and Rachel looked extremely relieved. Dib looked tired, but still just as ready to leave. Zim wasn't in the room, he never spent much time in the room. Gir was always with him as well.

"Why didn't you mention that before?!" Leah yelled. I blinked at her, skeptical to reply at first. I turned my head so that I was facing forward and stared at the wall.

"The doctor said a parent of legal guardian has to sign me out and there is no way that's happening so I wasn't going to bring it up until I had a plan." I replied icily, although I didn't intend on being so cold. Leah narrowed her eyes and took a step towards me but Rachel put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Why don't we wait until it's night and sneak out? It couldn't be that hard, could it?" Dib suggested, although he looked a bit doubtful. I nodded slowly in agreement as I stood up from the bed and walked over to the closet where our things were stored.

"I'm going to get dressed." I declared, retrieving my clothes and going into the bathroom. As I got dressed I could hear them discussing, with Rachel being the most logical out of them all. I ignored them after a while, because I was leaving today whether they came with me or not. I pulled on my boots and socks and brushed my hair a bit before coming out. All our things were already packed so there was no need to pack later, we were ready to leave.

"Kate..." Rachel began slowly, sounding upset. "I... don't think we should leave today." she continued. "It's still so cold and snowy out, I can't risk you-" she cut herself off as I whirled around to face her.

"You're not going to tell me what to do." I snapped at her. The three of them sat silently as I glared back at them. Rachel stood up, holding my gaze challengingly.

"Would you rather go out and have to come back the the hospital, again?" she retorted, placing her hands on her hips. Dib and Leah exchanged a glance behind her, looking scared that they might start fighting then and there. I narrowed my eyes at her and leaned closer, on hand on my hip.

"I'd rather be out in the snow than at any hospital at all." I countered, ready to start a fight if she continued to disagree. Leah jumped up and began to step between us until Zim burst into the room. Everyone froze and turned to look at him.

"Zim agrees with the Kat-Human. If we do not leave soon, my location could be found out." he said, glancing at me. I crossed my arms and turned away from them all to walk over and sit on the windowsill. I stared out at the snowfall that was quite heavy, but the doctor said I should feel better. Although he was probably assuming I wouldn't be on the run and wouldn't be out in the cold for more than five minutes. I shuddered and closed my eyes, picturing myself free of this hospital and frolicking through the snow. While doing this I must have fallen asleep, though.

The next thing I know I feel someone shaking me. "Kat-Human... Kat-Human! Zim demands you wake up!" Zim yelled, shaking me. I blinked my eyes open and noticed that it was dark outside.

"What? It's night time?" I asked, blinking up at Zim from the windowsill. He nodded and pushed me up.

"It's time to get going." he said urgently. I stood up and blinked, everyone else was already gone. I yawned and grabbed my bag. "Okay... let's go." I said.

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Well hope you enjoyed, I have no idea who will even read this and it's so dumb but I might write another chapter tonight. I slept all day which was a bad idea... okay I'm a loser seriously. Review if you want I guess?


	15. Stressful

So yeah here's another chapter. I am getting into this story again because I love it and it makes me happy to write it. So if you hate it please don't be too mean because I'm just writing and posting for fun really. I already know that it sucks so I don't need others to tell me :p

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Zim and I climbed out the window, the only way that seemed reasonable for escape. Zim helped me because I was feeling weak but didn't want to admit it. I hadn't eaten much the whole time I was in the hospital and it seemed to have a bit of an effect on me. We met the others at the base of the hospital.

"So where to from here?" Rachel asked, looking at Zim and I as we ran over to meet them. I looked around, thinking to myself.

"Well we have to get back to the hotel to grab our stuff right? Let's go now, we've been here too long already." I stated, my voice feeble. It was still snowing kind of hard and and the snow was now up to the middle of my calves. "We have to hurry." I added, beginning to walk towards the hotel.

"Katie, wait!" Leah called from behind me. I stopped but didn't turn around, she ran up to me as the others followed slowly behind her. "Are you sure you're okay? You're still really pale and you sound... weak." she said skeptically.

"I'm fine." I shrugged her off frustratedly, walking faster to prove I was okay. Which was a mistake because I began to feel light headed but I continued anyways. We eventually reached the hotel, not sure how I made it there because I could barely breathe, let alone stand anymore. The others were a few feet behind me so I decided to sit down on the steps and wait. Zim Rachel got to me first, with Dib right next to her.

"Kate, are you alright?" she asked with concern. I could tell that she could see how much I was being affected. "We can stay the night in the hotel if you need." she offered. I looked up at her. I wasn't so sure that was true but being out in this snow much longer would lead to another hospital trip. I sighed, trying to make up my mind.

"...I'm fine. We have to keep going." I replied, standing up slowly and unsteadily. Rachel and Dib exchanged a look but they both knew there was no changing my mind. Zim,Gir and Leah had now caught up. Rachel and Dib pulled Leah and Zim over to talk, which was strange because they usually left Zim out. I sighed and looked at Gir, giving him a weak smile. He came over to me and hugged me, I could tell he knew this was serious because he didn't shout anything silly.

"You'll be okay, right?" he asked, looking up at me with those adorable eyes of his. I nodded, although I was really unsure.

"Guys, we really need to get going. Like I know you're worried and stuff but like I'm standing out here freezing my butt off so that doesn't help." I said with annoyance. They disbanded in a panic and all began apologizing except Zim. He walked over calmly, shaking his head and simply picked me up without warning, causing me to squeak.

"Stupid, human pig stinks." he muttered, carrying me into the hotel and setting me down.

"You didn't have to do that." I said, pretending to be angry about it, crossing my arms although I could feel myself blushing. Or maybe it was just the cold. I couldn't really tell. "Thanks" I added softly, and began to walk to the elevator so we could go up to the room. Our friends ran in to catch up to us and we all went up to the room together.

Most of our stuff was by the door from when I put it there before the whole incident. I packed the rest of the food I could into my bag and put it on my back. Everyone took their bags from next to the door and we left the room quickly and quietly.

"Katie?" I heard someone question as I began to fall behind the group while we trudged on our way down the road.

"What?" I mumbled, trying to speed up my pace. I realized it was Leah who had said my name.

"We're still worried about you... you seriously don't look good. You can't even keep up with us. We don't want you passing out again, or worse, dying." Leah said gently. I didn't have the energy to argue. I simply continued to walk on, catching up to the others. I saw Zim glance back at me and slow his pace a bit. Leah sighed and stayed a bit behind me.

"Kat-Human, we may have a problem. The tallest, they know of the hotel we were staying in. They're very close and I, the mighty ZIM, will not allow myself to get captured by them!" he stated.

"Well we can't move much faster than this. I..." I decided not to continue that sentence. I focused my eyes on the road ahead of me and continued to walk as fast as I could. I could have sworn I saw some sort of worry flash in Zim's eyes but he did a good job at pretending it didn't. We walked again for what seemed like hours. It was beginning to get light out at this point. The snow had stopped, thankfully, but I wasn't doing so well. I had fallen pretty far behind the others and it was getting harder to breathe.

"Guys, um, I think we need to stop." Dib said from a few feet ahead of me. Everyone rushed over to me, except for of course Zim who walked over slowly.

"Please Kate, I think you have to go back to the hospital." Rachel begged, Dib and Leah nodding in agreement.

"NO!" I snapped, not just because I didn't want to but I knew Zim was being chased and we had to go somewhere.

"Kat-Human, you are feeling unwell. Something that happens to all pathetic little filth humans. We shall set up... the tent!" He declared, sounding quite epic for no apparent reason. I found the strength to giggle a bit.

"You're such a loser." I said with a weak grin. I unpacked the tent from my bag and felt bad as I watched them set it up. Zim and Gir were no help because they had never seen such a thing before and they continued to mess it up. "Zim, Gir just come here, would you?" Gir obeyed quite willingly and Zim followed less enthusiastically.

"Sit with me." I said, my voice still week. Gir sat down next to me happily. Zim looked down at me with his arms crossed.

"You know I don't care to pity to your insignificant human needs." he said, looking away with his arms still crossed.

"Zim don't be a jerk." I whined feebly. Tilting my head back and letting out a short groan. "Don't be mean to me while I'm dying." I said jokingly. He looked back down at my again.

"I have no pity for you." he said simply, but he sat down anyways. I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

"They won't find us here, right?" I asked him worriedly.

"There's no way of telling. Their irken technology is far superior to you pathetic humans. Especially because we are walking." he said. I sighed sadly and scooted closer to him so I'd be more comfortable.

"I'm sorry Zim... I don't want you to get caught. Do you want to... go on without us? We can just go home." I said sadly, watched the others finish up the tent. I heard Zim give a small sigh.

"No, you are all now in danger as well. Not that it matter to the all mighty and powerful ZIM." he yelled with excitement, I giggled at him again.

"Alright, the tent is finished!" Dib said with excitement. Zim stood up and helped me stand up as well. We all climbed into the tent and sat on out sleeping bags. We all pulled out our extra blankets, too. I curled up in my sleeping bag next to Zim, who wasn't going to sleep. I inched closer to him and looked up at him for a moment. He glanced back at me but said nothing. I fell asleep after that, I knew that something bad would happen soon. I could feel it in my gut, and it turns out I was right.

I woke up to the sound of my friends panicking as they began to pack everything up. Someone was holding me and shouting at the others. The tent was already packed into it's bag and everything seemed put away. Then we were running, away from something from what I could tell by the screams and shouts. However, I was still light headed and I had fallen back asleep. The chaos that ensued the next time I woke up was monumental.

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If you actually read and enjoy this then let's be friends dude lol. I have not watched this show in so long. I'm feeling nostalgic... hm. Ah well, off to write another chapter :3


	16. Epic (not really)

My chapter titles kinda suck. Anyways, this chapter is um I don't know what I think of it. It's long. That's about all I can say I guess.

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I awoke to hear lots of screaming and yelling. It was pretty dark except for a light about 15 feet from me. My eyes were still a bit blurry but as things became clearer I realized I was on the ground. I sat up and looked around, my friends were all sprawled across the ground except for Zim and Gir. Then I realized what that light was in the distance.

I jumped up suddenly and ran towards it, I heard voices. The voices of those aliens that had come for Zim earlier. They were called the tallest, I believe. I got nearer and realized that there was a huge ship parked on the ground in the middle of these woods we were in, but several ships seemed to be up a ways in the atmosphere. I heard the others beginning to stir behind me, but I had to find Zim.

"Katie?" Rachel questioned as she stood up slowly. Leah and Dib began to stand up as well and saw me running into the ship.

"Well, we better follow her!" Leah said urgently, running after me into the ship. Dib looked like he was going to explode of excitement.

"Wowie, a real alien ship! This is a can't miss opportunity. I wish I brought my camera!" he said.

"Shut up Dib, this isn't the time." Rachel said with annoyance as she began to run towards the ship as well, Dib followed closely behind her.

"Zim! Gir! Zim?!" I called urgently, looking around frantically. This ship was huge and I'm sure there would be guards all over. I turned and looked around in confusion, I ran towards the nearest door I could see. This was a bad idea though because a guard reached down and grabbed my by the shirt. I squeaked and squirmed around.

"Wh-what? Put me down!" I yelled. I glared at the large alien holding me and continued to wiggle. "Where's Zim?" I demanded, angrily. The guard said nothing and simply began to carry me somewhere.

"Katie!?" Leah called, spotting me in the guards clutches just as he closed a door, trapping her on the other side. "No!" she yelled, banging on the door. Dib and Rachel caught up, out of breath and looked at the door.

"What's wrong?" Dib asked Leah, Rachel looked at Leah waiting for a reply.

"Some huge, fat, ugly alien guy took Katie through that door. I don't know how to get through." Leah said sadly. Dib stepped closer to the door to get a better look.

"No worries, I'll have this figured out in no time." he said and he began to pull out weird gadgets to open the door with.

I was now on my way to some unknown place, I had basically given up fighting. Why was this big brute being so quiet, it was making me mad. No matter what I said he didn't reply to me.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded. No reply, of course. He was just like Zim except worse, at least Zim reacted. This guy had a blank expression the whole time as he carried me down this never ending hallway.

It wasn't actually never ending though, we did get to the end and it looked like a cell of some sort? The guard guy did some weird alien stuff and threw me inside. It was kind of dark at first but then the lights turned on. I was in some kind of prison cell. I looked around, unsure of how to react. I didn't know what to do, it looked like there were no exits except for the one he used to put me in here.

"Great. Man, what did I get myself into." I said sitting down against the wall and hugging my knees to my chest. The room was empty and metal, the door was only able to be opened from the outside by a keycard, and there was one window on the far side of the room. Not like I could use that to escape because I would die instantly. I wanted to cry but there were no tears, instead I stood up and looked up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not but it looked like there was a vent up there, how convenient.

I had no upper body strength so getting to the vent would be challenging. I just needed to get up to the windowsill. However I heard a voice outside the door just as I was about to put my plan into action and my first instinct was to run and stand right next to the door. It opened and I saw Dib, Rachel and Leah flung inside carelessly.

"OH!" I said, a bit startled. The door closed loudly and I ran over to Dib, who was closest to me. "Gosh, are you alright?" I asked looking down at him. Dib blinked and sat up.

"Ow, my head. What WAS that?" he asked, looking at the door. I shrugged and looked over at Leah and Rachel, who had also sat up by now as well. I stood up then helped Dib stand up, we all looked at each other.

"I'm sorry guys. This is my fault. Now we're trapped here and... I don't even know where Zim is. And..and...and...I... I'm an idiot." I blurted out, beginning to panic. I thought that maybe they had escaped but now we were all trapped. I was startled when Dib hugged me tightly, then Leah and Rachel joined it.

"It's okay, we're going to get out of here." Leah said with determination. "Just breath Katie, you're freaking out." she added. I took a few deep breaths and then sighed. Rachel let go and began to examine the room a bit. Leah let go as well and pointed towards the vent in the ceiling. "That's the way out, it seems." she said.

"The only way out besides the way we came in." I said with a shrug. Dib had now let go as well and we all crowded by the window.

"Katie, you're the lightest so you're gonna have to go up first." Dib pointed out.

"Shut up big head, I know that already." I stated as I walked towards the windowsill. "Just give me a boost guys." I said. The helped me get up onto the window and I carefully climbed up into the vent. I looked down at them and sighed, I was going to have to leave them here. I would be more sneaky without them.

"I'm... sorry guys." I said sadly, closing the vent.

"Ka- what are you doing?" Rachel demanded of me. "You better come back here this instant Katie-Marie." she stated angrily.

"I don't have to listen to you, you know." I pointed out and I went on my way. Dib and Leah exchanged a look as Rachel screamed incoherently at me. I made my way through the vents, peeking down through holes at each chance I got. I must have crawled all over the ship but Zim was nowhere to be seen.

"Frick..." I said quietly to myself. I had to get out of these vents, I had to find Zim. However, as I crawled past another vent I heard someone talking, the voices sounded kind of familiar.

"... if he escapes Foodcourtia again, we'll just have to have him killed. It's the only reasonable thing to do." one of the voices said. It was the tallest, I could tell. I heard the other make a noise in agreement.

"Well Zim, we just better hope that you'll stop being so headstrong then." the other voice said. I heard a muffled voice trying to retaliate and I realized, they had Zim with them. Out of sheer impulse, I kicked the vent open and fell into the room. It wasn't my most graceful entrance ever but it'll have to do.

"Zim!" I squeaked, panicking a bit. The Tallest turned to me and looked at each other.

"Weren't you locked up?" the red one asked me.

"Maybe." I replied, looking towards Zim. He was trapped by some kind of weird alien technology. The tallest exchanged a look, then they started yelling for security.

"TIME TO GO ZIM!" I yelled, I ran over and starting mashing buttons on the thing holding him. I heard the guards coming to us. I desperately beat the machine with my fists and, by some miracle, Zim was released. However, the guards had made it into the room. Zim had his spider legs sprout from his pack and grabbed me. We went up into the vent I had fallen from, Zim retracted the spider legs and we ran through the vents.

I must have been running on adrenaline before because I was freaking out now and I had to stop because I could barely breathe.

"Kat-human, come on! We have to go!" Zim shouted at me.

"Zim...I... can't..." I panted, trying to get my breathing back to normal. "Dib...Leah...Rachel...trapped..." I managed to get out.

"Yes Kat-human, I already knew that. We can't free them we have to go." he stated. I shook my head furiously. I had finally regained my breath a bit.

"No way I'm leaving without them. Zim, that's my sister and my friends. And where's Gir?" I said frantically. He shrugged, him and that stupid shrug.

"UGH! You're a jerk. Come on." I said with frustration, I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the vent towards the prison cell. We got out at the one nearest, but not inside, the prison cell.

"Free them." I demanded him, crossing my arms.

"You do not tell me, the mighty invader ZIM, what to do." he replied.

"Free them, NOW." I said back fiercely. "Or else you're going to have to get off this ship on your own. And I doubt you can do that because who just freed you? Oh right, that was me." I said angrily. Zim snarled at me, and turned to leave.

"If you leave this ship you're going to be alone then, aren't you? You want that?" I asked.

"Zim needs no one." he replied calmly, continuing down the hall.

"So you're just going to leave me alone here? After everything I've done for you? Irkens don't even have a sense of loyalty? Pathetic. Humans must be the better race after all." I said calmly, turning towards the prison door. I heard him stop walking, turn, and stomp his way back over to me.

"Irkens are FAR superior to humans! Move out of the way puny Kat-human, I will prove this to you!" he yelled at me. I smirked as I watched him work on opening the prison door.

He has no idea that I just manipulated him.

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I like that last bit for some reason. I laughed at myself while writing it. I think I'm funny :p Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. I literally just posted a chapter earlier today I think and now another. Woop. I might try to squeeze in a third one if I can focus and finish it up.


	17. Home Sweet Home

I'm just dominating with these chapters today. At this point I'll probably finish the story. :p

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Zim got the door open after a few seconds of waiting and the others rushed out. Leah hugged me tightly. "I knew you had a reason for leaving us in there!" she said. Rachel was giving me the cold shoulder, I shrugged it off though. We were sisters, stuff happens. After Leah let go, Dib came over and gave me a hug as well.

"Rachel is pretty mad at you, but I knew you'd come back." Dib whispered in my ear.

"I knew she'd be mad..." I replied, but I smiled at his kindness. He pulled away and glanced at Zim who was glaring at us. I cleared my throat awkwardly and walked over to Zim. "We still can't leave we don't have Gir." I murmured to him. Zim scowled at me, crossing his arms and turning away. I growled a bit and stepped closer to him, "Remember what I just said about loyalty? This still applies. It double applies, actually." I said in a low voice, staring into his eyes. He stared back for a moment before letting out a groan.

"Zim does not feel pity. Besides, Gir stayed on Earth. The tallest threw him..." he thought for a moment, drawing small circles in the air by rotating his hand on his wrist. "Somewhere." he finished.

"WHY DIDNT- no, you know what. I'm not even going to ask." I said with annoyance. "Let's just go then." I sighed.

"You do not tell me, ZIM, what to do!" Zim shouted. "But I agree. We must find the escape ship." he said. I laughed a bit and rolled my eyes at him.

"Alright, lead the way oh mighty invader." I said sarcastically, I heard snickering from Leah and Dib. Zim took it serious though.

"Of course I will. I am the powerful, all-knowing, invader ZIM!" he said dramatically. Man he was such a loser but it was kind of cute. He didn't move though, he continued to stand in the same spot.

"You have no idea where to go, do you?" I asked him smugly.

"Of course I do, puny Kat-human." he said loudly. I shool my head as he began walking forwards.

"Don't get us caught, Zim" I said from a few inches behind him. He waved his hand in the air, dismissing my comment. I giggled a bit, shaking my head.

"I still wish I brought my camera..." Dib said from next to me. I turned to him and shook my head with a smile. "When we get back can't you help me snap one picture of Zim as an alien? I won't use it for any purposes other than I will gain satisfaction from being right." he begged me.

"Oh shut up Dib. We all know you'd get him to be operated on or something weird like that." I retorted with a playful tone.

"...okay sure. But is there really something so bad about that. It will help science!" he said eagerly. "Or I could submit it to my favorite tv show..." he said, more to himself than me. I gave him a playful shove.

"Why don't you have that big head of yours operated on... for science of course." I added with a grin. I was beginning to feel myself again. Zim and Dib brought out the happiness in me. Not sure why, but they did. Sure, Leah and Rachel could too and I loved them but there was something about Zim and Dib. Their stupid little rivalry, Dib's science nerdiness, Zim's selfishness. All things I loved about them and that just made me happy to be around.

"MY HEAD'S NOT BIG!" Dib replied with playful frustration. I just laughed as we continued to follow Zim. By some miracle, he actually got us to the escape ship without anyone catching us.

"Good job, mighty invader." I said climbing into the ship and sitting next to Dib. Zim sat up in the pilot's seat while Leah and Rachel were in the two seats behind us.

"Zim... they going to just keep coming back for you, you know." I pointed out as he powered the ship up. "You have to do something so they won't come back for you again... I heard them say-"

"Shut up Kat-human! The tallest will not come back for me this time." Zim said, sounding almost sad. I blinked and realized that he didn't want to talk about this, not here in front of all of the others. So instead I turned to chat with Dib for the whole ride home. He fangi- sorry, fan_boyed _over the Mysterious Mysteries show basically the whole time. I spaced out a few times but he seemed so happy so I tried to stay interested.

We finally got back to earth, it was night. Zim parked the ship to let us out onto the road, then he opened his roof and drove it in there.

"Well... it's going to be hard to go home after this." I said awkwardly.

"Yeah, well I better go then. This was pretty fun, although it was pretty scary too." Leah said with a smile. She hugged Rachel and Dib then me.

"Thanks for coming with us." I said happily, hugging her tightly. "See you tomorrow, maybe? We'll probably all get grounded after this." I said with an awkward laugh. Leah smiled and nodded, we hugged once more and she went on her way. Zim came outside with Gir at his heels.

"Gir!" I squealed, kneeling down with my arms spread wide for a hug.

"KATIE!" he squealed in reply, running to me and jumping into my arms. I squeezed him tightly for a moment before standing back up.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving then." Dib said kind of awkwardly. Rachel still looked mad but she hugged him anyways. Then he walked over to me with that dorky grin on his face, which I returned before pulling him in for a hug.

"I'm glad you came. Even though you're still trying to expose Zim." I said with a small laugh.

"It was pretty fun actually. I saw a real alien ship. I guess I don't have proof but I at least have my memories." he said. We hugged for a bit longer before waving goodbye as he walked the short way home. Leaving Rachel, Gir, Zim and I alone. Rachel had her arms crossed and was staring at the direction that our house was in. I walked closer to Zim, who was standing right outside his fence.

"Rachel is mad at me, you know. Because I left her trapped in the prison cell while I came to rescue you." I said with a smug grin.

"You already know Kat-human, I have no pity for you stupid human ways." he said, waving his hand in the air. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah yeah, I'm a stupid inferior human, you're an all mighty Irken invader. Blah blah blah." I said playfully before hugging him tightly. "Whatever you say, I'm just going to assume you are thankful to me about at least something." I added. He hugged me back without hesitation for once.

"Okay Kat-human, you were able to save me. So that doesn't make you as inferior as all the other human stink pigs." he said. I giggled and hugged him tighter for a moment before letting go.

"Well this was pretty fun... at the good times. I'll see you soon hopefully." I said with a grin.

"Katie!" Rachel said urgently, the first word she'd spoken since we freed them from the prison cell. I turned around as I heard the sound of sirens.

An ambulance had just stopped outside our house. I had no time for further goodbyes, Rachel and I ran as fast as we could to our house. The paramedics were in the middle of bringing Grammie out to put her into the ambulance.

"What happened?" I asked one of the paramedics with concern.

"Who are you?" he replied.

"We're her grandchildren! What the heck happened?!" I yelled.

"Woah are you the girls that have been missing?" he asked.

"Argh! Yes! Just tell us what's wrong with our Grammie!" I shouted at him now.

"Jeez stop shouting. Anyways, your Grammie's had a heart attack." he said dismissively.

"Will she be okay?" Rachel asked, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

"We don't know yet, why don't you girls go stay with some neighbors and come to the hospital tomorrow?" he said. They all climbed into the ambulance and drove away. Rachel was now sobbing loudly. "This is your fault!" she yelled at me. She ran to Leah's house before I could reply. I knew she wouldn't want me there with he so I trudged to Zim's house, still in shock.

I knocked loudly and Zim answered, he said nothing to me. He simply stepped aside and let me into the house.

"I...my... my Grammie... she..." I said slowly, sitting on the couch next to Gir. Zim nodded in understanding. For once, he didn't say anything about being superior.

Instead, he said "Gir, make waffles."

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So yeah, probably only one chapter left. :3 Hope you enjoyed.


	18. The End

So this is it guys. This is the final chapter. I hope everyone who read this has enjoyed it. No need to fret because I'm already planning on making a sequel. Enjoy the final chapter!

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After eating the waffles Gir made, I fell asleep with my head on Zim's lap. The next morning I woke up pretty early. I was still laying with my head on Zim's lap, he was watching something on the tv. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes.

"You... let me sleep on you all night? What happened to not feeling pity?" I said, smiling at him.

"That was not pity... the mighty invader ZIM does whatever he thinks is best in a situation." he stated with a nod of his head. I sighed and looked at the tv for a moment.

"Well I have to go to the hospital..." I said slowly, standing up. I didn't even care what I looked like, I just had to know how my Grammie was."...Zim-" I began to say, but he was already standing next to me, the tv turned off. I smiled gratefully at him and we walked out of his house. "I need to get Rachel from Leah's house." I said. We began to walk over there but Leah and Rachel were already on their way out of the house. They looked a lot nicer than I did at the moment.

"Kate!" Leah said, walking up to me and giving me a huge hug. I smiled at her and we simply continued on our way to the hospital. Dib must have been trying to stalk Zim or something because he was suddenly running towards us as well.

"I heard what happened." he said solemnly once he reached us. He gave me a tight hug and then gave on to Rachel as well. We simply continued to walk. No one said anything until we reached the hospital. I turned to face everyone and took a deep breath.

"I appreciate you all coming here with us, but from this point we have to go inside alone. You can wait out here or leave. It doesn't matter which, do whatever you want. We'll be back out soon, hopefully." I said, looking at all of them. I knew that Rachel hated me now but we were sisters, and we had to do this alone together. I turned and walked into the hospital and to the front desk. I asked the lady where Grammie was and she lead us to her.

However, we did not like what we saw.

She took us to the morgue. Rachel was crying, people were talking all around me. I heard nothing but my own thoughts. '_This is your fault'_,Rachel has said, and she was right. It was my fault. I still said nothing, I didn't even thank the doctors. I didn't want to be here anymore.

I took Rachel's hand and walked back outside, everyone was sitting on a bench. Dib and Leah got up and ran over as soon as they saw us. They all knew what had happened, they knew what we saw. Since I wasn't crying, Leah and Dib worked on comforting Rachel. I stared off into the distance, thinking about how much I wished I could have done something.

I sank to the ground quietly and stared at the grass. I saw walk over and stand in front of me, by the shoes they were wearing I knew it was Zim. He never said much, he was selfish and knew little about human emotions, but I think he understood this. He understood my love for my Grammie and how it was affecting me. He knelt down in front of me and gently pulled me into a hug.

I was so startled I didn't know how to react at first, but I reached up and hugged him back. Tears poured silently out of my eyes. I pulled away, despite how much I was enjoying the hug. I didn't know if tears would burn him like regular water. For a moment I just sat there crying silently until I knew I had to pull it together.

I stood up and walked back into the hospital, I talked to the doctors for a few minutes and we worked out where Rachel and I had to go. I returned to my friends and said the first words I had said since the walk over.

"We're moving back home, Rachel. Our old neighbors are going to care for us now." I said in a monotone voice. "We have to go pack, they're already on their way." I added. I began walking toward's Grammie's house, I heard everyone else follow after me. Dib ran to catch up to me.

"So now you're leaving? I... we... " he stopped to think for a moment. "We were getting to be such good friends." he said sadly.

"I know. I'm sorry." I replied. "You're one of the best friends I've had. I know we didn't get to hang out much but that trip brought all of us closer together. I'm really going to miss you." I said sadly. We reached my Grammie's house. I unlocked the door and let everyone inside.

"You guys can hang out, we have to go pack." I told them, Rachel and I headed upstairs. It took about half and hour to pack all of our clothes and bathroom items. We returned downstairs to where Dib, Leah and Zim were sitting at the kitchen table. I set down my bags by the door and let out a sigh. Rachel was finishing up her packing so I sat down at the table with all of them.

"Well Kate... I'm... really going to miss you." she choked out, trying not to cry. Dib nodded sadly in agreement and Zim said nothing, like always.

"I know." I whispered so that I wouldn't start sobbing. Rachel came downstairs and put her things by the door as well. "Let's go outside... I can't..." I mumbled. No one needed me to finish my sentence, we all headed out the door. Rachel and I brought our things with us out there. I laid down in the grass with Zim to my left and Dib to my right, on the other side of Dib was Rachel and next to her was Leah. I gently took Zim and Dib's hands and held them tightly, it was comforting. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"I'm going to miss it here. We didn't spend much time here but... still. It feels like more of a home than our old town was. I didn't think that when we first came here but I feel it now." I said quietly. I squeezed both of their hands just a bit tighter. "I want to stay here." I whispered. It was silent, everything was silent. No wind, no screaming children, no cars. Nothing but the sound of out breathing.

"Don't go." Zim said, breaking the silence. My eyes opened and I turned my head towards him. "I need you to help me Kat-human. You're my assistant. How else am I supposed to destroy this horrible, stinking planet." he continued. I turned back to the sky, smiling. I began to laugh, a lot. It felt good and I really needed to do something to keep my mind off of crying.

"The mighty Invader Zim wants me to stay, what an honor." I said, still smiling. Dib and Leah were snickering a bit as well.

"Don't forget Dib and I, we want you to stay too!" Leah piped up.

"Yeah, you are the only friends I've ever had." Dib said, squeezing my hand.

"You guys are too sweet. You're going to make this harder than it has to be." I said sadly. We all laid there staring at the sky until it began to get dark, and that's when the car pulled up. We all stood up, I greeted our new caretakers and they began packing our things into the car. Rachel was still upset, she gave Leah and Dib long hugs then climbed into the car. I turned to Leah first, holding back tears.

"Well, it's been fun. I'm going to miss you. So much." I sobbed a bit, pulling Leah into a tight hug. This was turning into quite the sob fest now. She stepped back and then I turned to Dib. I had already told him everything I had wanted to say. I hugged him tightly as well.

"I'm going to miss you, too. Big head." I whispered with a small laugh, still crying a bit. Dib chuckled a bit and hugged me tighter for a few moments. We both pulled away, I hesitated for a moment before moving on to Zim. I gave Dib a quick peck on the cheek and smiled, then I finally reached Zim.

"Ah... I have nothing I can even say to you." I said shaking my head, tears still falling.

"Say nothing then, Kat-human. However, I do have something I need from you." Zim said seriously.

"Yeah, anything." I said, looking him in the eyes.

"I need your word that you'll come back." he said firmly.

"Oh... of course. One day. I'll definitely come back." I said, nodding my head vigourously. "And Zim I... nevermind." I said, biting my lip. I hugged him tightest of all. We probably stood there for a minute, I'm surprised he even let me touch him for that long. I pulled away and without hesitation I gave him a peck on the cheek as well. I ran to the car and hopped in, rolling down the window as soon as I was in.

"I'll be back one day!" I yelled back to the, waving out the window. They all waved back to me. I sighed and faced forward, rolling the car window back up.

"Rachel I know you hate me but it's back to just you and me now. We have to be a team." I said flatly. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to me.

"Yeah... I know. Just the two of us again." she said sadly. "Well we're going back to our hometown. We still have friends there." she said optimistically.

"Yeah. But none of them are like Zim, Dib and Leah." I murmured, staring out the window at the sky.

"True, but we'll just have to settle for them or else we'll be loners again. I'm sick of being a loner. Look where it's gotten us." she muttered. I opened my mouth to reply but decided against it. I fell asleep for the rest of the trip home. We reached their house and got out, we carried our bags inside and they showed us to our room.

This house was considerable smaller than Grammie's house and our house next door, we had to share a room. "Well here we go, round three now." I said, staring out the window at the dark sky. There were no stars or a moon that I could see.

"I'm going back one day." I whispered, touching my hand to the window. I climbed into bed and fell asleep. I dreamed of the time when I could return to the place I called home.

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That's all guys. Man what a cruddy ending. Good thing there's going to be a sequel. The idea from this story came from girlovesmoosey's fic "Innocent and Devious" so I suggest you check that out as well. I'm deeply influenced by her stories. :3 Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the sequel, it will be coming out soon hopefully. I already have lots of ideas in mind, so look forward to it (:


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